


The Potter Brothers

by MrSaineIndeed (MrSaine)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M, No age difference, Potter Family, Time Travel, a bit of angst, its really cool trust me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 07:44:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5240261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSaine/pseuds/MrSaineIndeed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When newly wed Hermione Weasley sees her best friend who she hadn't seen in eight years, she demands an excuse. Apparently, inter-dimensional time travel is a good one. When seventeen year old Harry Potter makes a wish he finds himself as the 10 year old cousin of one James Potter. Will he grow up again with the safety of family, or will the upcoming war loom over them all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, have fun reading (hopefully)
> 
> and On With the Show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermione gazed across the dance floor, smiling as brightly as any newly-wed who had just shared the first dance of the wedding would. Ron sat down next to her, red in the face having just danced with his mother who still happened to be very strong willed and very, very lively for a woman of her age. 

The event had been quite extravagant and with all of their friends from school and work attending it also had a large attendance. The service had taken place at The Burrow, just like Bill’s, Percy’s and George’s before them, quite early in the morning until just as the sun reached its peak and then the partying had gone on for hours yet no one had lost their energy. 

However, despite the euphoria of it though, she could not help but thing of Harry, the couples best friend and would-be best man, who had been missing for the past eight years.

Dean and Ginny sat down beside the couple. Ginny herself had been a wreck when Harry had gone. She had cried herself to sleep for at least a week before she ran out of tears to shed. Hermione would know as she had done the same. About a year later and no sign of Harry's return she had decided to move on, and met up with Dean Thomas. Unlike their brief stint in sixth year they took it slow and the relationship built from there.

"Hermione." Ginny said, placing a hand over hers and drawing her out from her thoughts. "You’re doing it again."

"I know, I know." She said sighing wistfully. "It's just, he should be here with us, at least today, shouldn't he?"

"There was nothing we could do 'Mione." She reassured using the nickname only a select few friends could use without them losing some important part of their body.

At that point Luna arrived, half leading, half dragging a very flushed Neville behind her. "Hermione, you might want to check the curtains by the doorway, they seem to have a large infestation of Blithering Humdingers." She said off hand.

Hermione easily understood the 'Luna speak' nowadays. Curious she looked over to the doors where two middle aged men were being refused entry.

"The bride knows him I swear, just get her and it will all be cleared up I promise." One of them said loudly. The man who spoke turned to look at her, he had long, silky black hair, a small dusting of stubble and stormy grey eyes which reminded her strongly of someone but she couldn't remember who.

She decided to go up and deal with it, if she didn't know them in the end they would get thrown out, it was simple. Anyway, she wanted to remember where she knew those eyes from.

"Hermione dear where're you going?" Ron asked with a small questioning frown on his brow.

"Just to sort out the commotion at the door, don't worry." She grinned as he stood up to follow her anyway. Honestly, her husband could be so overprotective sometimes.

As she approached the door she wondered who the men could be, apart from her and Ron's parents there wasn't anyone here older than forty. The second man turned to face them for the first time. Bright, emerald green eyes froze her where she stood. 

She knew those eyes.

He had the same hair, the same face, heck even the same glasses.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron said full of concern for his wife. She nodded faint heatedly.

'Pull yourself together Hermione, you can do this!' She said to herself, heart racing a million times a minute.

She marched up to the man and slapped him across the face before pulling him into the biggest hug she had given anyone in a long time.

"I'm glad to see you too 'Mione." He whispered in that same voice, and wrapped his much stronger arms around her and lifted her from the floor.

When they pulled apart, a million thoughts running through her head at the same time. 'How was he here?', 'why was he so old?', 'who was the man next to him?' But most of all was, "where the hell have you been!" She said almost shouting at him.

He grinned wildly before his expression turned to one covered with guilt.

Luckily the music was loud and the party was still going on behind her although a few people had turned to look at the scene she was causing.

"Hermione? Who are these people?" Ron asked still oblivious to the entire situation.

"Ron, I'm disappointed, after all this time you no longer recognise your best friend." He said; the wild grin back on his face.

Ron's eyes grew comically before he almost sprinted over to his friend and hugged him much like Hermione did, though definitely more manly as both men claimed later on. "Why are you so, old?" Ron asked causing the two men to snort with laughter.

"Why thank you Ron, I'm only forty five you know." Harry said sarcastically. "Trust you to say something so tactless to your best friend who you haven't seen for goodness knows how long." Ron blushed before stuttering over an apology. "It fine Ron, I promise." He said reassuring him.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, Harry caught the look and suddenly felt scared of the oncoming onslaught of questions he was likely to get thrown at him. "Harry James Potter, tell me now where have you been for the last eight years." She said in her best professor McGonagall voice as her friends had dubbed it.

"Only eight years? It defiantly felt much longer to me." He said avoiding the impending question.

She only glared at him. "Don't avoid it Harry, you can't disappear for that long and not tell us now."

He looked at her and said more seriously now, "when I tell you, and I will, it will have to be somewhere more private than this. Enjoy your wedding night, have fun and party. We just wanted to see you first, let you know we were here."

"Tough, you’re going to tell us now. I'm going to tell people I'm leaving." She said, drawing protests from the green eyed boy.

"No, I would hate to ruin your night." He insisted.

"Harry, nothing could ruin my night now, I've got married to the man I love and I've just seen my best friend who has been missing for years." She said flashing a smile at him which he returned. And Harry knew better than to argue further, for when Hermione Granger, now Weasley, set upon an idea she would not yield until it was carried through.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

A few minutes later the four were leaving the wedding room, Harry still felt extremely guilty despite what Hermione had said. They were almost out the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around. "Harry, don't you dare leave without even saying hello!" It was Luna.

He grinned at her dress. It was a midnight blue but had beer bottle caps sequinning the hem. "Hi Luna." He said. She leapt forward into his arms.

"You will come visit before you go and return again." She demanded; how she knew about all that Harry didn't know but he also knew better than to ask as she would simply give a 'Luna' answer and start mumbling about the thick swarm of wrackspurts in the air.

"I will, but I have to go now." He promised with a final squeeze before turning to catch up with Sirius and the newly-weds.

Once they had all arrived outside Hermione simply said, "Grab my arm." And they did, apperating to Hermione and Ron's flat at the outskirts of London.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

The apartment was rather large, with a seperate en suite bedroom, kitchen, living space and bathroom. Hermione lead them all to the two sofas before heading into her bedroom to change which caused Harry another bout of guilt. She shouldn't have had to change out of her wedding dress tonight.

While Hermione got changed Harry followed Ron into the kitchen where they made some drinks in silence both knew the tension was in the air. Ron was the first to speak up.

"I'm sorry, for what I said, you know, before you disappeared. I thought it was me that had driven you off, I was, devastated." He said facing down into the empty mugs.

"I promise Ron, I didn't leave on purpose, I would have never left if I had the choice." He said, thought it was true though he had wished to leave, which had been the cause of his disappearance, but he would have never gone through with it. He had no idea that his magic had multiplied after the defeat of Voldemort. He had had the power to make what he wished happen, to an extent. Magic always maintained balance.

"Does that mean you’re staying?" He asked hopefully.

Harry stiffened and he felt Ron deflate beside him. "I'm sorry mate." He said grudgingly. "But look at me, I'm twenty years older than you, I even have a kid now. I can't stay! I don't belong here, I can only visit." He explained.

"Bloody hell Harry! You have a kid?" He said incredulously, attempting to mask the disappointment which Harry could easily see in his eyes.

"Well, yes, wouldn't you? Remember I am forty five now, it's complicated but I will explain." He was slightly uncomfortable with the conversation, they didn't know the whole story yet so it would be hard to explain it to them.

They worked in awkward silence, once the four teas were made they walked back through into the sitting room where Hermione was sat opposite Sirius who was looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable on his own.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Hermione turned when she heard them come in, and graciously took her tea. Ron sat down next to her while Harry sat next to the mysterious black haired man.

After a few minutes of silence that no one wanted to break she decided to ask the second question that had been on her mind for the past half an hour.

"Who is this?" She gestured to the man who was currently pushing himself as far back into the chair as possible.

"Oh," said Harry grinning, "This," he flung an arm around the man's shoulders, "is my husband, Sirius Black." She gasped and so did Ron beside her, she could hear him spluttering but didn't pay attention, thousands of questions were forming in her head.

"Husband? Sirius?" She said loudly while Harry laughed. "But Harry," she paused slightly, thinking what to say next without upsetting him. "Isn’t Sirius, well, dead?" She said in a quiet voice.

Harry however didn't sink like she expected, instead he grinned even further as if Christmas at the Weasley's had arrived. "All will be explained Hermione, but I'm going to tease you for now and leave you hanging on that." Harry said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Hermione groaned making Harry laugh even more, even Ron laughed (after recovering from the initial shock) knowing how much Hermione craved details to any story. It felt good to be laughing with all three of them again, it was like a weight that she didn't know was there had lifted. Very cliché and all but it was true.

"Oh, Hermione, guess what!" Ron said excitedly, rather unlike himself. "Harry has a kid!"

She gasped in surprise. "Two actually" she heard the man Harry had called Sirius say. She couldn't bring herself to relate this perfectly healthy man to the hollow, underfed looking man who had escaped from Azkaban to see his godson back in third year. Though now she looked closer she could defiantly see the resemblance in the two.

"Kids! You have to have pictures!" She demanded adamantly.

Harry smirked as if he knew how she would react and reached down his shirt for a small pouch. It seemed that it was extended like her purse had been during the war as he pulled a full sized photo album from it. He flicked through the pages until he found the one he wanted. "Here." He said pulling out a picture. On it were two boys both in their teens in there Hogwarts robes on platform nine and three quarters. One had shoulder length, black wavy hair like Sirius's and Harry's green eyes while the other was an almost identical copy of Harry but with dark grey eyes and a quirk in his smile which looked completely Sirius like. Both were giving the same triumphant grin as Harry was giving them now.

"The one on the left is Orion, he's the eldest at twenty five and the other is James, he's twenty four." Harry said pointing at each one in turn.

"But, Harry that would mean they're in our year and well..." Hermione trailed off, the confusion of the night finally showing through.

"Yes and you're very good friends with Orion and my nephew." He said drawing out another photo which made Ron and Hermione gasp. It was themselves, alongside the boy called Orion and a very real looking Harry Potter, the four were laughing at a joke that someone had made a few moments before the photo. "It was taken after you had gotten you NEWT results."

"But Harry, how?" Hermione asked exasperated.

"Yes Harry, I think it’s time you stopped torturing your friends and got on with it." Sirius spoke for the second time with a humoured smile on his face, though still looking slightly uninvolved by the trio.

"Fine!" He said over dramatically. "Ok, here are the basics: due to some strange whimsical magical mishap and a wish to be with my parents I got transported to an alternate universe where I'm James Potter's cousin. The boy in the picture isn't me, that's my nephew, James's son." He explained as if this were the most obvious explanation.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "But Harry, how does that even work? And all the time paradoxes it creates! How the hell did you pull it off?" She asked digging for the answers. Magic had always amazed her and in situations like this it completely astounded her.

Once again Harry grinned. "Well magic always tries to find balance right? Well after the defeat of Voldemort my magic was running high, it had been stunted by the horcrux in the scar so when it was removed my magic was boosted hugely which was why the expelliarmus had defeated him and why the elder wand had actually managed to fix my holly one.

"On that night," and they all knew which night he was talking about, "my magic was building up..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

The Weasley's house was bustling with people it was a celebration as well as a mourning day for all those who had survived not just the final battle, but the war as a whole. A marquee similar to the one used for Bill and Fluer's wedding had been set up in the yard with a long table down its length for a communal dinner that night.

After the meal Harry had broken down in front of the entire crowd while asked to give a speech and had ran into the burrow where Mrs Weasley was waiting, welcoming arms wide open as always.

She held him and rubbed his back soothingly when Ron came in, more than a little drunk which had become depressingly usual for him nowadays.

"Why did you run away mate." He spat it out like an insult. "All those people are looking to you for guidance and you bail on them." He raised his voice, angry.

"Ron, no I'm just-" Harry stuttered, confused at why his friend was acting this way.

"Everyone out there had lost someone in that war and you’re the one breaking down, you didn't lose anyone! You don't even have anyone to lose!" Ron was shouting now.

Harry was pissed, how could his best friend not understand what was going on with him? "Shut up Ron!" He shouted, he felt his magic rear up inside and lash out throwing Ron backwards into a wall, "I'm so damn tired on this! I'm expected to be strong, I'm expected to be the one looked at for guidance as you put it, did anyone ever think I never wanted the damn job!" He ran out the house and into the fields behind leaving confused members of the remembrance service, sprinting away as fast as he could until he couldn't run anymore. He collapsed and curled into a ball on the muddy floor and dreamed of what it would be like if he was just another person with a loving family, if he hadn't have been the chosen one and could have lived with his parents, godparents and Remus without the war hanging over them or them being dead.

Suddenly there was a great big flash and everything was white apart from a silhouette of a woman leaning over him before everything faded to black again.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

"And that's how it happened." He finished solemnly.

Ron felt guiltier than he had ever felt now he had the knowledge of what exactly happened, including the day after Harry left. "Ron I don't blame you for any of it, I get that you lost a brother then and you were bitter, if I had the choice at the time I wouldn't have gone but it was Emotional magic, so I didn't..." He finished and though it didn't make Ron feel any better about himself he put on a grateful smile for Harry.

"So what happened next?" Hermione said, eager for the story.

Harry was now lying sideways on the couch, so that his head rested on Sirius's lap and his feet were dangling off the edge. Sirius was gently tangling his fingers in Harry's messy hair. Ron thought they looked very close, though it was weird that Harry had changed so much, not that he was against him being married to a guy. It was just that it was Sirius and, well, he was his godfather wasn't he? It was all too much to get his head around in the short forty minutes that Harry had been with them that night.

"Well next, I woke up in a bright white room in my ten year old body with a woman leaning over me. I was pretty freaked out..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX 

 

Harry slowly opened his eyes. He was in a bright white room which smelled like a hospital, a blurred shape of a woman loomed over him. He tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes before realising he wasn't wearing his glasses. Groping around on the table to his right his hands landed on a pair, he pushed them onto his face and everything came into focus. He caught sight of his hands and gasped, they were a lot smaller and softer than usual, in facts they looked like child's hands instead of normal.

Panicking he pushed the sheets off his body, it was true for the rest of him to, he was in a much younger body than before. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. "It's all right, you're safe now." She said in a voice that made Harry want to trust her.

He looked up and looked at the woman he had seen before. She had blonde, curly hair which was tied up in a messy bun and a white uniform. She had warm, brown eyes and had a thin pair of glasses which rested on her nose.

"Where am I?" He said quickly, in a voice that defiantly wasn't his.

"You’re in St Mungo's, a group of aurors found you badly hurt in a forest a few days ago, just after an attack on a nearby village. Do you remember what happened?" She asked.

Suddenly a rush of images shot through his head. Fire and screaming and lots of people running around.

He felt the healer rest a hand on him again, without realising he had started to shake and cry out slightly.

"Shush now, it's alright." She said. "You’re not there anymore, you're safe." She hugged him slightly and he leaned in to the comfort. "Do you feel happy about answering some questions? It will help the aurors find the people who were responsible and also help you recovery if we know what had happened." She said once Harry had calmed down a bit.

"What happened to me?" He asked in a small voice.

"We're not entirely sure, you had several deep cuts and you were unconscious."

He nodded in response to the previous question and the woman picked up a clipboard of the small table next to his bed. "What's your name age and birthdate?" She asked.

He was unsure on how he should answer, if he said Harry Potter she would never believe him, but then again, he should probably answer with complete honesty. If it was in the newspaper that Harry potter had gone missing when a smaller looking boy who claimed to be him appeared they would at least make an enquiry. "Harry potter, ten and I'm born on the 31st of July." He said, deciding to stick to the age that his body looked. The witch raised her left eyebrow thoughtfully before scribbling something down on her clipboard.

"What's your name?" Harry asked back politely.

The healer smiled at him, "Catherine McDade Brown" she said, pointing at the badge on her chest. "I'm going to be looking after you for now."

"What was the last date you remember?" She asked.

He thought back to the service that was on the 23rd of May, a few weeks after the battle. He told her this and she nodded, writing on the board again.

"Do you remember what happened?" She asked with a worried look in her eyes.

This was the question he had been dreading, for some reason he could remember all this screaming, he remembered sitting in a wreck of a building, there were spells shooting across outside and it was raining.

"I remember being in a wreckage of some sort, there were lots of red and green spells flying past outside and there were lots of screams." He felt tears well up in his eyes. "Then I remember the forest, there were lots of people but they weren't screaming anymore, they were all dressed in black but I couldn't see their faces. Then there was pain, everywhere."

The healer took a moment to take it all in before hugging him, though not too tight as to damage the dressing on his cuts.

After pulling away the healer didn't speak again for at least a whole minute, writing a few things down on the clipboard.

"Do you mind us taking a small blood sample?" The woman said turning to get a small syringe.

Harry paled, "Wh-what for?" He asked panicking slightly. Last time someone had took his blood lord Voldemort had returned and one of his friends had died.

"Just to test in a potion to see if you have any remaining magical relatives." She explained simply. Harry was very suspicious now, he didn't know why she didn't react to his name, not even to tell him not to be silly or something of the sort was strange enough. And then there were the memories he didn't remember having but at the same time did. An ancestry potion would allow him to get answers as well as prove who he was.

He held out his arm to allow her to take his blood.

After a minute he figured that if something this big had happened it would be in the daily prophet by now. "May I see the newspaper for today?" He asked politely.

"Sure, but first we'll get you washed up and you need another set of potions and most importantly, rest. You've been in that bed for days now, in fact we were worried you weren't going to wake up at all." She said. "Here, let's get you out of bed then." She moved to his side to help him.

It was awkward at first but Harry managed to get into a standing position. These legs were shaky from lack of use which had made them weak so he hung on to the healer. It was very weird being shorter than before, this body was at least half the height that he was. Another thing that was strange was that he even caught himself acting as though he was a child, leaning into the healer for protection against the non-existent dangers of the hospital.

Once they reached the small bathroom connected to the ward He saw a large mirror hanging over the sink. He closed his eyes, even though he knew what he would see he was dreading to look into it and have his fears confirmed.

'Come on Harry, where's your Gryffindor bravery?' He scolded himself and forced himself to look.

He opened his eyes and saw his ten year old self stare back.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

"So just like that?" Hermione asked. "You were back in your ten year old body? Why couldn't you just wish yourself back here anyway?" She asked curiously, still wandering how it worked.

"I tried that! You see, you as a whole, are split up into three parts, your body, your consciousness and your soul which is where your magic resides. All three are really closely interlinked in that having a sharp mind and strong body increases your magic capacity, although even if you are the strongest and smartest your magical core still dictates how magical you are which is the most important part.

"When I made the wish my consciousness was transported into a new body which had a different magical core which was, while strong, not nearly powerful enough to send me back into another dimension. So basically I'm a magic anomaly." Harry explained.

"So, how are you here now?" Hermione asked again, desperate to hear the theory behind dimension travelling.

"Well you should know Hermione, you figured it out, Where I came from of course. To be honest, I don't really know much, just that I have a link in both worlds therefore I can use a device to move between them, it's all very confusing and it takes a lot of magic to charge." He paused and looked to Hermione. "Is that a detailed enough explanation oh smart one?" He joked causing her to smack him over the head from across the coffee table.

"Not even close oh stupid one! But get on with the story!" She said indignantly but grinning anyway.

"Well after I looked in the mirror..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

He was exactly as he remembered himself, but something seemed off, other than all the other scars he had obtain per throughout his years at Hogwarts his lightning scar was gone too! It was gone and he was actually scarless!

He stared at the mirror wondering if this was some sick joke or trick someone had played on him, but he doubted it, his gut said it was all too real for something like that.

"Are you ok?" The healer asked fearfully when he had frozen, wondering if he was hurt or not.

"Uh, y-yeah." He answered untruthfully his voice trembling a little. She pursed her lips slightly, knowing she was being lied to but let it pass. She helped him into the shower, helping him wash before wrapping him warmly in a towel. He decided he really was beginning to act like a ten year old now as he didn't care that she had seen him naked or anything. It must have been a side effect of him being in this body.

Once he was dry and re-clothed in another, much fresher, hospital gown they walked back to the ward. He was able to walk much more independently now he had been on his feet for a bit. She gave him some potions to drink before she left, saying that she'd be back later with the results of the potion and that if he needed anything he only needed to call rather than get up.

Only when she had left did he suddenly realised how tired he was, closing his eyes he immediately fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in order to not get all your hopes up, I'm gonna tell you all that this story has mostly been written on Fanfiction.net so these upcoming chapters will be pretty quick fire shit. this means i will not be updating this constantly after the first 7/8 chapters

"And that was my first day in an alternate universe." Harry concluded with a smile, he had stopped there because he had seen Hermione let off more than a few yawns through the last part of his tale, the same with Ron.

"But Harry! Carry on!" Hermione demanded.

"Not now Hermione, you're exhausted and it's got to be at least two in the morning." He insisted checking his watch and nodding in affirmation. Hermione sighed, it was obvious she was torn, she knew how tired she was but Harry could see she was desperate for more.

"You'll carry on tomorrow." She said, it wasn't a question and Harry knew it. "Sorry, we only have a sofa bed, you are staying right?" She asked fearfully.

"Of course Hermione, don't worry your socks off!" He joked, though she was too tired to retaliate.

They all got ready for bed, Ron and Hermione going into their bedroom and Harry and Sirius curling up together on a surprisingly comfortable sofa bed, or it could have been a comfort charm by Hermione.

Once they were all settled down Harry turned his head to face Sirius who had his arms around him from behind. "I'm really glad we could come here." He said quietly.

He felt Sirius smile. "And I'm really glad you’re happy." He said, lightly kissing him in the lips.

"Yeah, I'm just, really grateful that I'm able to explain it at all to them, when I left... they would have been worried as hell." He said wistfully.

"Well it’s good you have, do you think we can invite ourselves to Christmas over here, bring 'Rion and James?" He asked changing the subject. He knew Harry felt guilty even though he hadn't meant leaving, it wouldn't do him any good dwelling on it.

"That would be fun wouldn't it! I wonder how 'Rion would react to seeing his best friends but without them knowing him?"

"He'd definitely take the opportunity to spook them with all their own secrets!"

They lay in silence for a bit, both knowing neither of them were awake. "Thank you for being here for me, I don't think I could have done it without you there."

"I'll always be here, I promised, remember?" Sirius knew that despite the brave face Harry always put on, he was constantly worrying about things going wrong, like if Ron and Hermione hated him for leaving. The rational part of Harry knew they never would, Ron maybe a little, but he still worried. Sirius saw it when they were outside the hall where the wedding was taking place, Harry almost decided against it and would have left if it hadn't been for Sirius telling him to get his act together.

"I love you." He mumbled almost incoherently.

"I love you to Harrykins." He replied and tightened his arms around him.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Hermione was always an early riser, unlike Ron, who could only be woken early if you got a piece of bacon and wafted it under his nose. She pried herself from her husband's arms easily without waking him and went through into the living room and paused.

Harry lay in the arms of Sirius, they both looked so peaceful and happy together. It was strange, trying to rap her mind around them. In her mind Sirius was the hollow, skeletal thin man who had barely survived his time in Azkaban and had the appearance to show for it. What was weirder still was Harry's marriage, she had nothing against gay marriage of course, her parents had never been particularly religious and she had never been exposed to the harshness of society. Harry had never been interested in men for all she knew, but then again, he had never shown the amount of interest in girls as the rest of the boys his age had, he was only ever into Cho and Ginny, and the relationship with Cho had been almost non-existent. And of course Sirius was Harry's freaking godfather although where they were from he wasn't, it was all too confusing to comprehend properly.

Hermione realised that there were a pair of green eyes looking back at her and she realised she had been staring. "Got lost in thought did you?" He asked playfully, with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I'm just, you know." She said, for once not being able to articulate her emotions.

Harry however, nodded knowingly. "Yeah I get it, sometimes I still have to stop and think about it for a second, make sure it's all still real, and that’s after thirty five years." He said. At that moment it wasn't the forty five year old man who was talking to her, this was Harry, her friend. The boy who had had too much responsibility forced onto his shoulders as a child. It was good he had got the chance to start again, despite that selfish part of her that wanted to keep him for herself now he'd come back.

Harry did the same as she did a few minutes ago and gently rearranged Sirius's arms so that he was no longer trapped within them. It was really weird seeing Harry as a grown-up, the last time she had seen him he was this battle-weary, eighteen year old boy and now he seemed this, jokey, always smiling forty five year old man.

"Should we prepare some food for breakfast then?" Harry proposed with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure, kitchens through there, let's go." She said moving round the makeshift bed and following Harry into the kitchen.

"So I was thinking." Harry said as he took out a frying pan from the cupboard he had found. "The story involves a lot more than me and Sirius, and I should really go back and tell everyone it worked and we were not blasted into space or something like that. So…" Harry trailed off.

"Get on with it and ask me what you want." Hermione said sighing. Knowing Harry all too well, even after all the years he still edged around questions instead of getting to the point.

"Would you let me go back and get the rest of the family? Or are you going to tie me up forever?" He quickly held up the pan in front of his face to block any possible flying projectiles. He peeked round the pan slowly to see Hermione's reaction.

She was smiling.

"Really?" She asked disbelievingly. "That would be amazing!" She said, almost squealing. "You could all come down for Christmas at the Weasley’s! And you can introduce everyone and it would be so amazing!"

"So you don't mind me going away for a bit?"

"Well, only that it would delay the story." Hermione said honestly.

"I just got woken up by female squealing, Harry I hope you’re not cheating on me?" Sirius said jokingly from the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Harry walked over into the arms of his husband. "Of course not, it's you I should be worried about cheating." He said kissing him slightly on the lips.

"It was only once when I thought James was you! And I was drunk!" Sirius insisted. "James did get quite the shock though." The two men laughed at the memory, Sirius had been at a graduation party that the marauders had pulled together after their last year, Sirius had become so drunk he had came onto James thinking he was Harry.

"Don't worry, I forgive you." Harry said playfully. "The plan worked." He said quietly so that Hermione wouldn't hear.

"What plan?" It seemed as though she heard anyway.

"Harry here said that-"

"Don't you dare Sirius, don't you dare say anything!" Harry said covering up Sirius's mouth with his hand. Sirius tried speaking anyway only for it to come out as a mumble. "And licking my hand won't work anyway, you do it all the time as Padfoot." Harry said as Sirius attempted to lick him.

Sirius began giving him the kicked puppy eyes. "No Siri, it won't work... stop, stop it now Sirius... Please!" He almost begged. "Fine." He said, releasing him after a full ten seconds.

"Well as I was saying!" Sirius started again, only for Harry to press his lips to Sirius's to stop his speech. "Well I can't argue that this isn't better." He said while engaging in the kiss.

"Ew! Old men snogging in our kitchen! Hermione get rid of them!" Said a new voice from the doorway.

Harry turned at him with eyes of pure fire. "Ron Billius Weasley! Don't you dare call me old!" Inside though, he was glad Ron was taking it jokingly rather like he would have in forth year. It seemed Hermione had him well trained since he last saw them.

Ron burst out laughing at his face. Harry turned to Hermione for help, only to see an amused look at their behaviour. 'Oh it was good to be back' Harry though with a smile.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

"Tell us a bit more before you go." Hermione insisted, blocking the doorway to the flat.

Knowing she wouldn't let them leave he decided to go with it, fearing the consequences if he didn't. Sighing, he led them all back to the sofa, though making sure he didn't get himself too comfortable, he continued the story.

"Well the next day I woke up early in the morning..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

When Harry woke up there was light coming through his window, he looked at the clock sat on the bedside table, it read 8:34. He must have slept through the night. At that moment Healer Catherine walked through the entrance to the ward carrying a tray full of potions. She set the tray down on the small table at the end of his bed and took out a sheet of parchment from a pocket in her robes.

"Ah, you're awake." She said, noticing him watching her. "I came in last night but you were in a deep sleep and I didn't want to wake you, sleep is the best healer after all. I brought a newspaper if you want to have a look at it?" She said, handing the said paper to him. He accepted it gratefully before turning to the front page and doing a double take.

"New terrorist group attacks small village near London"

But, this close after Voldemort people would be terrified, and all looking to him to defeat them. This could not get any worse, not with him in this body.

"Oh yes, it's terrible news isn't it, they are calling themselves Death Eaters, going on about blood purity and all that, complete nonsense but it doesn't stop them."

Harry was frozen with shock, how were they back? He thought they were all rounded up in the end. Something was wrong with this, this was all wrong, he could feel it in the pit of his stomach.

"Now," she continued, "the potion is ready, we just have to put it into this piece of parchment and it should give us some results." Harry recognised the potion, in fifth year it had been the only potions he had ever looked forward to brewing. He had wanted to find out more about his family, the potion showed your blood relations on your father’s side. Depending on how well the potion was brewed it showed more family members or less. Much to his disappointment the one he had made wasn't very good though, and only showed James.

Catherine sat in the edge of the bed and took a small beaker containing the blood red potion from the tray. She used a pipette and collected a few drops of the liquid before dropping them onto the parchment.

Harry held his breath, he was fearful of what would show up. She hadn't reacted to his name before and with the news he had a feeling that something very strange was about to happen, like a small warning going off in his head. The red liquid settled in the centre of the page before shifting, forming small neat calligraphy on the page. First appeared the words Harry James Potter from there came a line connecting to a man called Eddard James Potter which then connected to a Hadrian Charlus Potter. What shocked him was another line from his supposed 'grandfather' which led to one Charlus Hadrian Potter, the father of James Charlus Potter.

Harry sat in shock, staring at the page in his hands. He closed his eyes to think. behind his eyes he could see the face of the man who must have been Charlus's brother, his father. He couldn’t quite bring himself to see the man whose name was on the sheet of paper as his dad despite the strange half memories like the day before.

The man had been there that night. The night that was lodged into his head as firm as his name was after the sleep last night. The man had told him to stay put, to stay and that he would be back to get him later. That was before the fires started and the spells flew. He hadn't wanted to leave but then the people had come. He had ran to the safety of the forest but the men in black had followed him. He blinked back the memories that weren't his, or were they?

Healer Catherine had noticed his deathly stillness and gently shook his shoulder. "Harry, are you ok?" She asked gently.

"Um, yeah." He tried but it only seemed to come out as a whimper. The healer gathered him into a hug, calming him down. The images of destruction were racing across his mind, not only the images of the fire but of the Second Wizarding War. A dead Fred, Remus, Tonks, Dobby, Sirius, Cedric, the countless Muggleborns dead at the ministry, the devastation of Hogwarts. Everything hit him like a giant wrecking ball and he collapsed into Catherine's arms sobbing.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

It had been a day since Harry and Sirius left when Ron heard knocking on their door. "I'm coming!" He shouted, before walking up to the door and opening it.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, I'm Ron Weasley, and this is my wife, Hermione." Said a red haired, blue eyed doppelgänger from the doorway.

Ron promptly fainted.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Hermione heard a crash from the kitchen and moved to check up on what the commotion was. As she came through the doorway into the living room she ground to a halt, at the doorway stood two people, herself and Ron.

"Um. Nice to meet you." Said the one that looked like her. "We are you from Harry's place, thing." She said messing up her words nervously. Hermione felt faint but forced herself to focus on the situation. "Um, your Ron is passed out, I think he had quite a shock."

You don't say? Hermione forced herself not to say it out loud.

Harry's head peaked round the corner of the door. "Oops, I think Ron has gotten a little light headed." He said before laughing. Sirius's head soon appeared too and burst into bark like laughter at Ron on the floor.

"Hey Hermione, sorry, but we had to really, couldn't resist!" Harry said once he had recovered. "Sorry we took a while, we just had to get everyone first and then we had to make sure certain people actually packed!" He said with a slight glare at Sirius.

The two men entered the small apartment after the other versions of herself and Ron. "It’s good to see you again Hermione." Sirius said with a polite nod.

"Now, may I introduce our sons," Harry announced, Hermione turned from Sirius to face him in a heartbeat. "This is Orion Regulus Potter-Black and James Eddard Potter-Black." Harry said as two handsome boys walked into the apartment. They were from the photos that Harry had given them beforehand. Orion had the same face as Sirius and had his long, flowing black hair, but had Harry's green eyes and sharp cheekbones, while James was much more like Harry with Sirius's smile and grey eyes. His hair was as long as Orion's but had Harry's messiness to it.

"At your service 'mione." They said with twin grins plastered to their faces. Hermione seemed to go red with embarrassment but didn't draw her wand which Harry was relieved at. He had warned them both not to call her that but he never really expected them to listen to him.

Hermione looked past the two boys to see who was next and froze with shock. The two people stood next in the doorway were undoubtedly Harry's parents. James and Lily stood at the entrance to the flat. She finally realised why everyone said Harry looked like James, they were almost identical, the only differences she could immediately see were that he was slightly taller, around the same size as Sirius, and had hazel brown eyes. The woman Hermione knew as Lily was beautiful, even in her forties she looked around five years younger. She had long red hair that reached the middle of her back; it was so bright Hermione would say she dyed it if she didn't know any better. Her face was slightly angular, like Harry's but it was her eyes that were the most similar, they were the same emerald colour and shape as those which adorned Harry's face.

"Um hi, welcome." She said nervously. Although this shock wasn't as bad as the next. Behind his parents, came Harry Potter.

Hermione fainted alongside her husband.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

They laid Hermione and Ron onto the sofa before casting an enervate on each of them. It took a while but Hermione and Ron both came to grips with all the people in the room. It was strange, thought James, he knew two of the people in the room almost as well as his own family, but here they were, as strangers.

"Sorry Hermione." Harry apologised meekly. "Remus couldn't come, he and Mary had to sort out some boring job stuff."

"Um, yeah." She said still staring at the other occupants of the flat.

James and Lily came forward in an attempt to break the awkwardness that surrounded the group. "Hi, I'm James Potter and this is my wife, Lily, Harry's parents." He introduced. It was weird referring to this Harry as his son, it had been quite a shock to say the least when they found out who his brother really was.

"Hi." She said quietly, obviously still intimidated by him. "I'd like to thank you, I still don't know the full story yet so I don't know what I'm thanking you for but that doesn't matter, thank you for taking care of our Harry." She said, James gave a serious, affirmative nod.

"Speaking of the story, should we get on with it?" Harry suggested, so that they would get over the awkward stage.

There was an all-around murmur of confirmation. "Well the next thing that happened, was that I was visited by a very, very hyperactive twelve year old! I think James can tell this bit of the story." Harry said, laughing slightly at James's embarrassment.

"Well, I was in the common room when dad came to visit. Me and Sirius were just planning one of the best pranks we ended up pulling that year when..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

The common room door swung open, revealing professor Dumbledore, behind him, James spied his dad stepping in after the professor. "Dad! Why are you here?" He said while running to the ageing man.

"Well, I came to see you, and I have quite a surprise for you, your mother is waiting at the hospital." His dad said.

"Is she ok? Is she alright?" He asked quickly, worrying for his mother.

"Yes, yes she's fine," he reassured. "It's good news, not bad. But I'd like to tell you in private, the news can't get out quite yet."

"Oh, what is it?" He asked, unsure on what his father was talking about.

"As I said, we need to go somewhere more private."

James smiled apologetically to his friend before following his father and the professor out of the common room. They walked all the way to the headmaster's office, where James had visited many times already in his short time at Hogwarts.

"Cherry bonbons." Professor Dumbledore spoke the password before leading father and son up the stairs to his office.

Once they were inside Charlus sat his son down on a chair he had conjured, while sitting in one himself. "Now two weeks ago a boy was found in the forest near that village I told you about that village that was attacked by Voldemort." James nodded, unsure of his father's topic choice. "Do you know what a blood relations test is?" He asked his son. After a confirming nod he continued. "Well this boy woke up a few days ago and took part in one and the results were rather unexpected."

"What did it say?" James asked unable to stay his curiosity.

"Well, do you remember your uncle Eddard?" Charlus asked, his eyes going darker slightly, as if he was remembering something unpleasant.

"Not much." James said bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Well, the boy is his son, your cousin." James brightened visibly.

"You mean, I have a cousin!" He said excitedly. He had always wanted a brother but mum and dad were older than most parents of children his age and he had been a lot to handle, he still was really. "Can I see him?" He asked, jumping up and down on his seat.

"That's what we’re going to do now." Charlus replied, grinning at his son's hyperactivity. Unable to wait, James hurried over to the headmaster’s fireplace. "If you don't mind, professor?" He asked for the use of the Floo network. The ageing man nodded, his eyes twinkling in amusement at James's antics before handing him a small box of the powder.

Not too long later they were leaving the welcome witch's desk with Harry's ward, the Piscelus ward. Once they arrived Charlus turned James to face him. "Now James, this boy isn't very well right now and is often tired, so be careful around him, you can’t jump around the place here. And if he's sleeping we'll have to leave and come back another time." He said firmly, hoping his son got the message. He could be serious when he wanted to, he just hoped that now was one of those times.

James nodded seriously, telling him that he understood. They opened the door slowly. The ward was white and not very big, there were four beds in each corner of the room, but only one was occupied at the moment. At the other side of the room was Harry Potter, staring wide eyed at him.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

James paused for a bit, "Harry I think you can carry on with the story now." He said leaning back in the chair.

"Just because you're terrible at telling stories!" Harry said laughing, while James kicked him in the leg before laughing with him.

"Well, after James came in I kinda just stared for a bit..."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

'It was his dad!' Harry thought wildly. 'His dad! His dad! His dad!' He looked almost the same as he did, will do, possibly. It was very confusing now that he was in his younger body. He was younger than his dad but older at the moment mentally, but younger at the same time... He decided not to think about it. He realised he was still staring at his dad's face and looked away, blushing deeply.

He boy walked up and sat on his bed. "Hey, I'm James, your cousin." He said straightforwardly. 'So it was true...' Harry thought back on the test.

"Um, I'm Harry, Potter." He said, mentally hitting himself for his awkwardness, it was like he was in his ten year olds mind as well; he was acting as he had in first year, with his nervousness and all.

James grinned. "I know." James's dad, his uncle, cleared his throat, attracting the attention of both children.

"Um now, Harry, I was wondering if after you get out of hospital, you would like to spend some time with us?" He asked. "It's fine if you don't want to." He added quickly.

Harry brightened considerably, his family actually wanted to spend time with him? Of course they do! He told himself forcefully, why wouldn't they? "Yes please Sir." He answered.

His uncle chuckled. "No need to call me Sir Harry." He didn't know what it was but there was a good feeling that came along with those words. The words themselves weren't that emotional, but the way he said it. It wasn't like anything said by his old uncle and aunt, who would eventually become his sister in law, or something. Shaking those unpleasant thoughts from his head he saw his cousin open his mouth.

"It would be awesome! We can go to the joke shop at Diagon alley! And we can go flying at the Quidditch pitch, we have one of those. Do you know how to fly Harry?" He barely had time to nod before James continued his rant. "And then I could introduce you to my best friends in the whole world, then you could join in on some of our pranks, you see we play pranks at school on all the students, especially the Slytherins." Harry looked at his uncle for support only to see an amused smile at his antics. Whatever he was doing here, if he stayed or found some way to return home, he doubted it would ever be boring with James around!


	3. Chapter 3

Harry sat with his back to the headrest on the bed late at night. He had been at St. Mungo's for almost a week now and he had to decide what he was going to do since, from what he could find, he had no way back. He missed Ron and Hermione, almost too much to even think about. He missed dinner at the Weasley's, Fred and George's jokes, everything about them. But he was here now, and it didn't seem like there was any way back for him. Tears welled up at the thought, he would never see them again, at least not like he remembered. Merlin, he'd be twenty when they'd be born! And what about him! What will happen when this worlds Harry was born? Will the prophecy exist?

He sat thinking about all of these things, all of them seemed too big. This whole situation was just too big. He had just finished off Voldemort, what all powerful being thought he had it in him to do it again? He remembered Sirius saying the war didn't start proper till they were out of school but there were attacks all throughout their time at Hogwarts.

If there really was no way back he might as well make the most of this, Hermione would give him the largest scolding ever if she found out he wasted another possible seven years at Hogwarts. He laughed quietly at the thought but he quickly stopped at another; he could save everyone, he had wished for this, he could grow up with his dad and Sirius. Everyone who had died, Fred, Remus and Tonks, Dumbledore, all of the countless students who had been caught in the battle, they would be alive!

He could grow up with parents.

Of course they wouldn't be proper parents, but when had he ever had those? The Dursleys definitely didn't count, and had never seen the Weasleys for more than a couple weeks at a time for them to count as anything more than a second family; they were more like cousins than parents. He smiled as he remembered the previous day.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Harry was extremely bored; he had been confined to his bed constantly and was craving action of some sort. James' short visits every day were really entertaining, and when he talked to Catherine, but she was busier with other patients now he was better and James was at school and had already been to see him that day. He had already escaped the ward several times to explore but he had gotten caught every time, which had led to a locking charm on the door to his ward, since he was the only occupant.

He heard the door creak open and was surprised to see his uncle and aunt. They had visited with James before, why were they here now? Harry thought.

"Um, hello." He greeted them nervously, he was still quite uncomfortable with how he should address them and all that, they insisted that he should just call them by their first names but it didn't seem right to do this

"Hello Harry. We have come with a preposition for you, but we couldn't ask while James was around." Charlus started. "We were wondering, if you would like to come live with us during the holidays, you will be going to Hogwarts in September of course but..." He trailed off, thinking he had said enough. He waited for Harry’s reaction.

Harry grinning, so wide it almost split his face I two, but then it faltered slightly. "But, won't I be a burden for you?" He asked warily, they had already done so much for him already just by visiting, Charlus had to count in his holidays all at once at the Auror office just to see him.

"Don't be silly Harry, why would you be a burden?" Dorea said smiling. "I've always wanted another child."

XxXxXxXxXxX

Throughout the entire week since his Charlus's offer, Harry couldn't stop smiling, Catherine even swore she saw him do it when he slept.

Finally, the day came for him to be released, the Potters were coming at noon and he sat watching the clock avidly for their arrival.

The door swung open and James ran in full pelt. "Harry! Harry! Harry! How are you today?" He said jumping onto the edge of his bed and moving up so he was lying beside him. He had broken up from school today, and had met up with his parents to come here.

"Alright I guess!" He said grinning at his cousin.

"Good, cause today's the day! We're breaking you out!" He said in what he must of thought sounded like a cool spy movie voice. How James knew about spy movies he had no idea.

Charlus and Dorea came in a bit after James, who had obviously ran ahead. "James, what have I told you about running about the place, you could have knocked someone over!" Dorea admonished, but smiled at her son's eagerness to see Harry.

"Oops, sorry mum." He said not at least a bit guilty.

"So, we'll let you gather your things and then we should be off." Charlus said with a smile, happy that things were finally moving. They moved outside to give Harry some space as he packed his belonging. 

He didn't have much, the ragged clothes he had apparently wore when they found him were disposed of and the hospital had supplied him with some muggle tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt he had requested some time after he had started moving about the place, he didn't fancy walking around in the short, light hospital robes they gave everyone.

Once he had packed everything in a small rucksack he opened the door, stepping out into the corridor. Charlus turned to face him. "All ready?" He asked. Harry nodded in confirmation. "Great!" He said grinning, "Then we'll all be on our way!"

They walked down towards the elevator which took them to the reception where Charlus had to sign the release papers for Harry. Once he had done that he led them to fireplace.

"Harry, just stand in the fireplace and take a handful of this powder, clearly say 'Potter Manor' before dropping the powder, keep your mouth closed and if it feels better close your eyes." Charlus explained. "James will go first to show you how it's done.”

James, looking happy to show off his experience, grabbed a handful before leaping into the fireplace. "Potter Manor!" He said loudly before green flames erupted from the fire, taking James away.

He grabbed a handful, but just before he stepped into the hearth a voice shouted "wait!" He turned around and saw Healer Catherine. "I just wanted to say goodbye before you went away." She said, pulling him into a hug, accidentally making him drop his powder. "Oops." She said slightly, waving her wand to clear away the mess. "It was a pleasure looking after you Harry. Take care of him, ok?" She asked, looking at Charlus and Dorea.

They nodded solemnly. "We will." Dorea said, looking at the healer straight in the eyes.

"Bye Catherine, I promise I'll visit again." Harry said mid-hug. He took another handful of powder before stepping into the fireplace. "Potter Manor!" He called clearly, dearly wishing he didn't turn up someplace else this time. Tripping slightly, he fell out of the fireplace backwards. Just before he hit the ground, however, he was caught by James. "Floo travel hates me." He stated.

"I'm sure you just need practice." Charlus said as he stepped out after him.

"The first time I used it I ended up in Knockturn Alley and I'm sure I've been sick at least two separate times inside the floo network before, I'm not surprised if some unlucky person got a load of sick shooting out of their fireplace by accident." He said, smiling slightly.

James burst out laughing. "Wow, it does hate you!" James grinned. Harry got up and looked around slightly, he was in a large parlour. The room was very spacious, with large windows on one side of the room, looking out onto a huge garden In the distance he could see the tops of some Quidditch hoops. Red curtains with gold thread hung in front of them, the same colour that seemed to dominate the rest of the room.

"I'll get Dippy, our house elf to take your things up to your room shall I? Then we'll give you the tour." Dorea announced. 'House elf?' He thought, a house elf wasn't exactly what he had been expecting, he had thought only people like the Malfoys and Sirius's family had house elves. However when Dippy arrived she was dressed in some sort of uniform and seemed clean and well looked after, nothing like how Dobby had been treated with his rag of a pillow case.

Small tears pricked his eyes at the memories of his small friend but he blinked them away, he would mourn for him tonight, but not in front of his new family.

"Shall we show you around?" Charlus suggested. Dorea excused herself and left to start the dinner, even though they had a house elf Dorea still liked to cook on special occasions.

"First we have the parlour, then through here is the main hall and the entrance to the house." He led him to a door at the side. "In here is the dining room and round here is the sitting room. The kitchen is in the basement, below the stairs. James, why don't you show Harry his room?" He offered.

James grinning and took hold of Harry's sleeve, running over to the stairs. "Come on Harry, hurry up! Don't be such a flobberworm!"

"I am not a flobberworm!" He shouted back childishly, hands on hips.

"Are too if you don't hurry up!" James said.

Harry sped up the stairs past James and onto the landing. "Now who's the flobberworm?" He taunted, he knew it was childish but he didn't care anymore, not now, with James.

His cousin glared but then grinned. "Come on then!" He said running off, Harry only just keeping up. "Here's my room, and the upstairs bathroom, and here's your bedroom, next to mine." Harry opened the door and gasped.

The bedroom was easily bigger than his old one at Privet Drive; it was probably bigger than all the bedrooms and then some. A king size bed sat on one side of the room, a large window looked over the garden, from here Harry could see the Quidditch pitch James had told him about. Two doors led off from the room, one into an en suite and another into a walk in wardrobe so large his old clothes would have only filled a small portion. Harry's small rucksack sat on his bed, it seemed slightly embarrassing that he owned so little in the presence of the splendour of the house.

"Don't worry." James said, as if sensing Harry's thoughts. "Mum's probably going to take you shopping to get more stuff.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

And take him shopping she did. The next day the Potters were bundled into the fireplace and out into the leaky cauldron. They already had money on them so they didn't have to visit Gringotts which Harry was glad for, he didn't think he was ready to return to that place yet, not so close after he had broken in.

His aunt and uncle led them down a few alleys to some of the higher end shops, Harry had never been this far into wizarding London, in third year he was told not to go further than Diagon Alley and he had never really been there long enough to look around since. Dorea dragged him through the robe shop, picking out different coloured garments that suited his eyes/hair/skin colour and a whole other amount of things.

James had gotten bored half way through and had begun to whine. "Muuuum, can we go shopping for Quidditch stuff now?" He moaned. "I really really want that new broom."

"Maybe later James, now were getting Harry some stuff, remember he has nothing." She murmured in his ear quietly so that Harry wouldn't hear to no avail. He blushed brightly at the embarrassment of needing things among James and his aunt and uncle who had almost everything.

Eventually, they left the clothes shop with several robes and other more modern clothes, a mix between muggle and Wizarding.

The next shop they visited Harry didn't know what it was until they were inside. High shelves surrounded the room stacked with magical toys, moving teddy bears, story books with colourful pictures, small brooms for kids that only went a few feet off the ground. A whole host of things.

Harry blushed profusely. "I'm fine really, I don't need anything." He insisted.

"Nonsense!" Dorea said, leading Harry in by the hand.

"Mum! If Harry doesn't want to get anything he doesn't have to!" James insisted. Harry flashed a smile of thanks that was returned quickly.

Dorea debated inwardly for a moment before relenting. "Fine James, let's go to the Quidditch shop then." She sighed and followed and exited James and an equally excited Charlus back to the main alley. Dorea didn't let go of Harry's hand though and he didn't make any move to remove his either. It felt good to hold someone's hand.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

They returned much later that day with new brooms for everyone. James had ran into the shop and then straight towards the latest model of nimbus, the 1002 model. After James had begged and pleaded with his mother, she agreed that the other brooms were getting a bit old and decided to replace them.

Harry, James and Charlus took the first chance available and rushed to the Quidditch pitch, Harry only after Dorea reassured him it was ok to leave her. The Quidditch pitch wasn't old, it was added to the grounds when Charlus was a child here. He had played many games of Quidditch with his brother, his real dad.

The whole parent issue was an odd sensation to him, James was his dad back home, Eddard potter was his real dad here, but Charlus was looking after him. Harry's ‘memories’ of any parents here did not contain any sign of a mum either, which made Harry wonder what had happened to her. The memories seemed to feel more natural than before as if they had all been sorted through and placed into files, he could easily distinguish between now and then, but here his new memories seemed to feel like they were his, and the others were like he had viewed them through a pensive once, or through someone else’s eyes.

"Come on Harry, we're all gonna take off together on the new brooms!" James shouted, drawing him out of his thoughts.

He grinned and forgot all about it, running to catch up to his family.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

That night the nightmares came.

Harry was in the burrow, it looked like it had after the remembrance service dinner, full of the dirty pots and pans Mrs Weasley had used to cook for all the visitors.

At the table sat Hermione, her face red and puffy from crying. She had a mug of tea clasped tightly in her hands. "Oh Harry!" She cried, but it seemed as though there were no more tears to come.

The door opened, revealing a tired and dirty looking Ron Weasley. "Still no sign of him." He said angrily.

"Ron! Why are you like this?" Hermione said exasperated, her face half full of disgust.

"I'm not angry at him 'Mione." He said dejectedly, sitting himself down in a chair. "I'm angry at myself, I drove him off, me!" He said, his eyes were welling up with tears, Harry had never really see his friend cry, only once from relief and happiness the day the war was over, and also over the body of Fred.

The dream changed slightly, Ron turned to face where he stood. "Was it me?" He pleaded with tear filled eyes. "Did I send you away?"

"No Ron, I promise you didn't!" He shouted but it didn't seem like he could hear him.

"Tell me Harry, tell me!"

He sat up in bed, sweat covered his body and the sheets and tears streaming down his face. It was a dream, only a dream. But it had felt so real at first, was he seeing what was happening now he had gone?

He felt a wave of guilt, he had been enjoying himself so much, while they've been worried sick and looking for him. He had tried to get back hadn't he? For the entirety of the first three days he had thought over ways to do it but there was literally nothing. And then he decided he could live here, with family.

Dorea was amazing, she bustled over him just as Mrs Weasley had done; making sure he was neat and tidy, straightening his robes when they were crumpled and all the other small things that made her all motherly, was it bad he thought of her in that way? He felt that somehow he was betraying Lily by thinking that.

Charlus was how he had always imagined a father to be, kind, patient but stern. And while going to work took up most of his time he still managed to watch James practice Quidditch every week.

They were both amazing people but it didn't help the guilty feeling in his gut. James and Lily were his parents, no matter what. He couldn't wait to see Lily at Hogwarts, he hoped she really was as amazing as everyone said. James was, well, when he had been in the hospital he was great, making jokes and keeping him company. But in the past few days he had seen another side to him, he had been whiny and moaned to get what he wanted and acted a bit like Malfoy had done, thinking he was better than everyone else.

Suddenly he froze, his instincts telling him someone was just outside the room. Slowly, he heard the door creak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA the first cliffy!!! Even though it's not that cliffhangery... ish... thingie... thing.   
>  ~Well done, you have successfully confused yourself!  
>  -Shut up Leo -.- Also now may be a good time to introduce Leo, to any who didn't read this on Fanfiction.net Leonardo is supposed to be the better part of my consciousness but so far he's not living up to standards, so I may have to take him back for a newer model.  
>  ~HEY just because you cant see all the mistakes you make when writing does not mean you can lay the blame on me instead!!!  
>  \- .......  
>  ~And now he’s sulking, great. Anyway, please review and favourite and follow and all that stuff that makes authors happy, god knows it might draw him out of this mood!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> be aware I'm posting multiple chapters in one to make longer reads and stuff, so there are a couple notes midsection where the old chapter divide is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yeah, real quick before I do start, Alternate Ron and Hermione will mysteriously disappear, they are breaking the story too much so they will go on a holiday… a very long holiday…

_Suddenly he froze, his instincts telling him someone was just outside the room. Slowly he heard the door creak._

Light spilled in from the landing outside and a silhouette shone into the room. "Harry?" He heard a tentative whisper call. "Are you alright?" Relief flooded through him, it was only James, he must have heard his shouts. Damn the war for making him so paranoid.

"Uh, yeah." He said back. He heard soft footfalls padding along the floor and the shadow following them until they reached his bed.

"You were having nightmares." He said matter-of-factly, in the dim light he could make out concern in his cousins eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. "About Ron?" He froze up, how did he know about Ron? Of course, he must have shouted out the name while he dreamt.

James moved to sit beside Harry on the bed, much like he had done throughout his time at the hospital. "Were you close?" He asked, tucking himself under the quilts with Harry.

Harry nodded, "he was my best mate. And now he's gone."

"Was he... Was he in the fire?" James asked further.

"In a way, I left him, and I couldn't get back to him." James was confused in the way Harry had phrased it but didn't question further as he saw Harry was rather nervous about the situation.

They sat silently for a while, the sound of Harry's breath slowed until James realised he had fallen asleep. He realised he couldn't get out of the bed without waking Harry, so he lay down beside him instead. Harry subconsciously moved closer to his side, curling up into the warmth of his cousin. "Good night Harry."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

It wasn't long until Harry got his Hogwarts letter, along with James's book list for the year. They were all sat down for breakfast when the school owls arrived, Dorea insisted on eating all meals together as a family because when the school year started they wouldn't get to do so for no less than three months.

 

Just as Harry was cracking into his boiled egg they heard a tapping on glass sound. Four heads turned to see a barn owl sat on the perch next to the window specifically for delivery owls. James' stance lit up. "Hogwarts letters!" He shouted and ran to the window, opening it for the owl to enter. Harry got up too and filled a bowl with water for the owl to have a drink.

The owl sent a grateful look at Harry before holding out its leg for James to remove the all-important letters. "Harry! Your letters come too!" He shouted almost scaring the poor bird to death. He handed Harry his letter.

 

Harry potter

3rd bedroom

Potter manor

Devon countryside

 

He smiled nostalgically at the letter for a second while he opened the letter. A grin spreading on his face. He read it quickly, it seemed the book list was almost the same as the one in the future, the only difference was the defence against the dark arts book which changed every year. This time he had to get a book called 'Dark and Darker: a guide to jinxes, hexes and curses' which made it sound as if they had a competent defence teacher for once. The curse on the position must not seem so bad to most now, if Dumbledore could find a competent DADA teacher easily.

The next day the family of four all crowded into the fire, heading towards Diagon Alley.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Everyone in the living room was leaning in to hear the story, even those who had been there at the time. They all wanted to hear the story from Harry's point of view, even Orion and James wanted to hear about their father’s time as a child.

"I think it’s time we all had a bit of fresh air, should we go out for a bit? I'll continue the story at Diagon Alley?" Harry suggested.

"That's a good idea, Florian’s daughter reopened it a few months after you left, we can all have an ice cream." Hermione said.

"Ice cream in the winter 'Mione?" Ron said confused.

"What a splendid idea." James said grinning, "Do they do the warm ice creams here? I dunno if that's a parallel thing or just in our Diagon Alley." He asked curiously.

"Yeah they do, in all the flavours." Ron said entering the conversation properly. He then changed the subject to something a little more serious. "You know, mum would want to know that you're here, and... and Ginny." Ron said paling slightly. "Bloody hell, how do you think she'll take it? I mean with Harry and all?" He asked.

"I don't know, she'll be confused... and upset and... to be honest I think Ginny's mature enough to understand and accept the circumstances." Hermione sighed with resignation. "But I suppose you're right, they do deserve to know."

"We'll think of a way to break the news later." Harry said smiling softly. "Right now we have ice creams to eat." He grinned. "We'll have to wear disguises, I may still be recognisable but young James and Harry here, would be easily noticed, we'd have the press surrounding us in record time." Harry seemed to have a parental aura of command over his family that was similar to the likes of Molly to his old friends, both of his kids immediately went to their fathers to have their appearance altered, while young Harry went to Lily. James acquired blonde, long hair and a tanned face while Orion only had to change his hair colour a bit as he was less recognisable anyway. Older Harry himself changed his hair a bit before turning to Sirius to change his husband's face too. "Can't be too careful."

In less than five minutes, everyone was ready to leave, clothed and prepped in an assortment of warm winter cloaks and muggle jumpers. All together they apparated into the leaky cauldron, which was all decorated up for the Christmas month, a tree stood in one corner with a large excess of tinsel hanging of it. The large group trundled outside into the bitter cold winter wind when a familiar voice rang out.

"'Mione? Is that you?" they all turned around to see Neville and Luna, holding hands while walking down the Alley together with what looked like a lot of full bags.

"Hi Nev, Luna." She said cheerfully. "Out doing the Christmas shopping then?"

But before he could answer her Luna spoke up in her dreamy voice. "Hello Harry and family." She said happily. "I take it the disguises are to avoid the press?" She correctly assumed, nothing got past Luna.

Neville looked confusedly between the mismatched group of people before coming up with the correct conclusion. "Harry? Is that really you?" he looked wide eyed at him, as if he could hope to see past the odd appearances. Harry nodded slowly, before being surprised by Neville running in to hug him. He guessed everyone would be a bit huggy if your friend returned after eight years of being missing, a sarcastic part of his head whispered. **(AN - it's Harry's version of Leo!)**

"It's nice to see you too Nev, sorry I've not come to see you yet, I've only been back for a few days and 'Mione's not letting me go until she has the entire story." He said, guilt spread all over his face.

He let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah, typical 'Mione." He said with a smile. "But what's happened to you, you look, erm, different." He said tactfully. "Other than the blonde hair of course.”

"Well at least you put it better than Ron did, to him I'm an old man!" He joked a bit, stalling to find the best way to put it. "I've been away for a while, erm, away as in a different universe, or reality or whatever. It's really hard to explain."

Neville looked at him confused for a second before sighing slightly. "Well, if it was anyone that it could happen to, it would be you, wouldn't it!" He said smiling. "I don't need to know all the details, wouldn't understand any of them anyway! So who are these people?" He asked cautiously, throwing them all a suspicious glance.

"Well, this is where it gets confusing, firstly you've got to understand that I'm my dad's brother in the other universe if that makes any sense, I'm James Potter’s brother." Harry said, cringing at how badly he explained it. He carried on anyway. "This is James, and his wife, Lily, and this is their kid, um, Harry." He paused to allow this to sink in with his friend. After Neville nodded he continued. "And this is my husband, Sirius Black, and our kids, James and Orion."

"I need to sit down." Neville said, looking slightly green. Agreeing, Harry led them to one of the tables outside Florian’s. "I- it's-." He stuttered for a bit before composing himself. "It's a lot to take in, is that why you're older, because you've been back in time in an alternate universe?" He concluded.

Harry nodded, glad that he understood.

"Well, that was the shitest I've ever heard you explain something." Sirius said jokingly, to break the mood that was slowly setting in.

"Sirius, not in front of the kids!" He said automatically, as he had said it almost every day of the said kids childhood. Needless to say Orion and James had quite the vocabulary when they first went to Hogwarts. James, Sirius and their children all started laughing as Harry blushed slightly. "Yes laugh, haha, Merlin you're as bad as the rest of 'em, kids the lot of you." He said, sharing a smile with Lily, who had just cuffed her husband round the head. Even Neville had smiled slightly, after getting over his shock.

"I'll go in to get the ice cream then." Lily said.

"I'll come help." Hermione offered, hurrying to stand up and follow the woman into the shop. While they were gone, Neville just looked at Harry with a quizzical look while the others made small talk. Both Ron's got along, and were under a heated debate on whether the newest seeker had any real talent or not. Sirius and James seemed to be discussing something under their breaths, while Harry kept shooting them both suspicious glances. Orion, and young James and Harry had gotten out a pack of specially enhanced exploding snap cards which literally made the ground shake when they exploded. That was until some young kids coming out of the store dropped their ice cream and began crying at one of the larger rumbles. After giving some money to the kids for another treat he then admonished the boys much to everyone’s continued amusement.

Once Lily and Hermione were back Harry explained to Neville and Luna that he was telling everyone the story of what happened since he disappeared. He roughly outlined the parts he had been over before delving back into the story. "So we were all going to Diagon Alley by floo, and as usual, I fell flat on my face!"

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Harry got up quickly off the floor, face bright red and hoping no one had seen him. Dorea came through after and took one look at Harry. "Oh dear, you've crumpled your robes, let me get that for you." She said waving her wand, the dust and grime covering his front disappeared and the robes themselves straightened out.

"Hey James!" Harry heard a spookily familiar voice call out from nearby.

"Oh hello Sirius, Remus dear, are you out for your school things too?" Dorea called back. He didn't trust himself to look up and see their faces, faces which were so young and carefree, not the old and warn out faces of his godfather and teacher.

"Wait you're not James?" The voice said. He looked up, Sirius's grey eyes stared into his own. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously. At that moment James and Charlus came through as well.

"Sorry, I just cought James attempting to bring his collection of dungbombs." Charlus said with an amused gleam in his eye.

"Wait what?" Sirius and Remus exclaimed identically, looking in-between the two near identical cousins.

James grinned at their confusion and came forward, wrapping his arms around Harry. "This handsome young man is my cousin, Harry Potter."

"Shove off James." He said playfully, shrugging off his arms. "And someone had to get all the good genes."

"What are genes?" He said confused.

"Muggle thing, it means I got all the good looks in the family." Harry replied, grinning while James scowled. They both looked back to James's friends who were still staring like fools.

"What?" James asked. "Got something in my teeth?" He said, deliberately winding them up.

"Why have you never told us you had a cousin?" Sirius blurted out.

"I didn't know myself until a while ago, remember how I kept disappearing at the end of last year, well I was visiting Harry was in hospital, he's gonna be living with us now!" James explained excitedly.

"Merlin, now we have to deal with two of them!" Sirius said.

Remus shot him a look and went forward to greet Harry. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Remus."

Harry grinned at him. "Nice to meet you too, James couldn't stop going on about his friends all summer, I don't think he could live without you guys!"

"Harry!" He playfully pushed his cousin while blushing profusely. The door opened and Harry turned to look who came in. A young boy, slightly pudgy, walked in with his mother trailing behind. Harry clenched his fists, he hadn't thought about Peter yet, but he knew he couldn't get rid of the rat now, it was too early and in reality, Peter was innocent in this time period. "Harry are you ok?" James asked, noting his stiffness.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." He replied, just as James caught sight of his third friend.

"Hey look! It's Peter!"

Harrys breath caught in his throat.

 

 

 

**From now on there are now labels labelling the different dimensions, please message me if it remains unclear. Anyway… on we go….**

**AD (alternate dimension, where Harry is James's cousin)**

 

 

 

 

The day passed on, Harry avoided looking and talking to Peter lest he attack him where he stood. They first went to Florish and Blotts and collected all the necessary school books, Dorea insisted on buying Harry some books of his own: an unfortunately familiar story book called 'Tales of Beedle the Bard' and a few simple charm books with helpful spells that Hogwarts didn't usually teach.

After getting all the other equipment all they had left was Harry's wand, but first Charlus and Dorea led him to the menagerie. He had mixed feelings on getting a new familiar, he didn't want to replace Hedwig. He was led into the shop, they walked passed a number of animals, rats (no way), snakes (equally unwanted), cats, owls, toads, a few newts and in one corner, an enclosure of rabbits that were pulling themselves out of top hats.

"Seen anything you like?" Charlus asked with a grin. Harry shook his head slightly before heading to look at some cats. He was drawn to a large ginger cat that looked a lot like Crookshanks, he smiled at the thought, it made him think of Hermione, it would be good to have a constant studying reminder too.

"This one is very intelligent, kneazles are often so but this one is exceptionally smart." The shopkeeper said helpfully.

Harry looked at Charlus with a slightly pleading look. "Please may I have this one?" He asked politely, although he turned on the puppy eyes.

"Sure kiddo." He smiled and ruffled Harry's hair affectionately, it seemed he was bonding with his ward and nephew faster than he expected.

Once they had found a basket for him and some vital care products and advice they were at the counter paying, the cat now in Harry's arms.

James and Sirius ran up from the toads which they had been prodding. "Oh cool, have you named him yet?" He said, reaching to pet the cat. When Sirius reached forward, however, the cat hissed and scratched at Harry until he backed away. "I guess he doesn't like you mate!" James joked as Harry winced at the fresh cut in his cheek.

"Sorry Harry." Sirius said smiling, probably laughing inside at his misfortune.

"S'ok." He said. "And I think I'm gonna call him Felix."

Soon enough after leaving they made their way into the wand shop, it was the same dusty interior with the same spindly wooden chair which Dorea had sat herself upon. Thankfully Peter had to go home as his mother had to look after a friend's child.

After almost a minute the old man himself came into the room, he looked remarkably unchanged compared to his counterpart from the future.

"Well well well, you haven't broken your wand again haven't you?" he said, looking questioningly at James.

"Um, no sir." he answered red in the face.

"We're actually here about my nephew, Harry." Charlus started, but the wandmaker wasn't listening anymore, instead he was staring at Harry, more specifically, his forehead, where his scar used to be.

"How extraordinary, I didn't think I was expecting to see you quite so _soon_?" He said. Harry froze, he always thought the old man was odd but how did he manage to know _that_ piece of information. "Anyway, your here now and I think you know that there's nothing you can do about it, hmm?" he said, looking at him oddly. Harry could only nod dumbly before Ollivander began to take his measurements and start to look through the thousands of boxes lining the walls as if nothing had happened.

Harry wondered if Ollivander was a legilimens of some sort, and could read surface thoughts, but that wouldn't explain his intimate knowledge of the future so easily as he wasn’t exactly thinking about the topic then. Tucking the thought away for future analysis he absentmindedly thought if he would get the same wand as last time or not. He doubted it, he wasn't The-Boy-who-lived this time around and didn't think he was destined for that wand.

Ollivander came back with a long box. "Oak wood and unicorn hair, twelve inches long, exceptional at charms." He opened the box and held it out for Harry to take it. Feeling like it was his first experience with a wand again he foolishly gave it a swish, a blast of hot air blew some papers off the man's counter. "I suppose not then." He said jovially and carefully but deftly picked the wand out of his hands and put it back in the box.

After six unsuccessful wands one finally stood out from the rest and true to his hypotheses it wasn't the holly and phoenix feathered wand he found so comfortable, but one very similar. "Hazel, phoenix feather, thirteen inches."

The moment Harry first touched it with his fingertips he knew it was the one, it held almost the same familiarity as his first wand but different, not bad, but definitely something else. He waved the wand, with more confidence than the others, out of the tip spouted a multitude of coloured lights.

Dorea and Charlus congratulated him while Sirius and James clapped him on the back. "Good one Harry!" James said grinning at him. Harry felt his insides warm at the proud smile he gave him, he had never got one of those from anyone before. James was nothing like Malfoy, who probably had never smiled before, Harry realised the fears of a few weeks prior were baseless. While James was whiney and slightly spoiled, he had many redeeming qualities such as loyalty and the kindness that he had given Harry. He reckoned he'd be able to sort him out at school. He thought grinning to himself.

Suddenly he remembered his time with Snape in fifth year. The memories he had seen in his pensive reminded him that his father had been a bully, a Dudley. He felt that thought weigh upon him for the rest of the day, even though the ice-cream that Charlus treated them to once the shopping was finished. James kept telling him stories about the adventures that he, Sirius and Remus had had while in first year, but every time he laughed it didn't seem genuine.

He would just have to wait to find out.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

**OD (original dimension)**

 

Harry and Sirius quickly popped back into their dimension to collect Remus and drop off the other Ron and Hermione, they were honestly only there for Sirius to use to prank Harry’s old friends, plus they had jobs back at home which needed them. 'Merlin it’s so weird just thinking of it like that' she thought. The others  had seemed quite nervous  while the two were gone which Hermione could understand, with the risk getting stuck in another dimension like Harry had she was surprised that they didn't all make the trip home just in case. Lily explained that the device used more energy the more people it had to carry so it would take longer to recharge before they could make the return trip.

Once they were back some more introductions were made and the now increasingly large group decided to head back to the apartment, Luna and Neville made their goodbyes, promising to be at the Weasleys' for Christmas dinner. Once home Hermione had to enlarge the room to fit everyone, and conjure a couple of sofas so that they could all sit.

While everyone milled around for a bit, Remus struck up a light conversation with Hermione. "I was actually looking forward to meeting you, I thought it would be interesting to find out the differences between you and your other self." He said smiling.

She returned the smile. "Yes that would be interesting. Not to sound rude but you look much younger than your alternate self did when he was teaching us in third year. Being around people when you, you know, it must really help?" She said, phrasing the statement as a question.

"Yes it does, the transformation is much less violent. And I heard about the teaching thing, I might give that a go seeing that the Defence Against the Dark Arts position will be open again, Harry said I made a great teacher. The old professor is finally retiring and Prejudice is a lot better back home than it is here, correct?" Remus asked, a curious look on his face.

"Sadly true, since the werewolves sided with Voldemort they have been treated worse than ever, but happily things are better than they were a couple of years ago." She said, a grim expression on her face. "And they wonder why they had sided against them in the first place?"

At that moment they heard a knock on the apartment door. "Hermione dear? Ron?" She heard the warm tones of Mrs Weasley call out, her new mother in law. The mindless chatter in the room quietened instantly. No one moved, waiting for any further sounds. "Hermione, are you in there?" She sounded worried. Hermione walked up to the door, motioning for everyone to stay clear of the view from the doorway.

She opened the door. "Hello Mrs Weasley." She greeted with a smile, although she was nervous on the inside.

"Dear, how many times have I told you, its mum now." She said with a broad smile. The smile didn't last long though. "Are you feeling alright? You left your wedding so early, we couldn't find you in there, so we thought you would need your space with Ron for a while before we checked up on you. Do you have guests around? I heard talking and I don't want to intrude." Her voice sounded slightly hurt that Hermione hadn't even talked to her for the past few days. Hermione felt guilty that she hadn't even thought of that yet.

Still no one moved, muscles frozen in place so that they could hear every tiny sound from the doorway.

"Yes, er, mum." Hermione said awkwardly, she looked over to Harry who nodded slightly, giving her permission to do what she was planning.

"I can leave if you want, I just wanted to make sure you were ok." She said with a tone of dejection.

"Oh, no, it's just... you may be slightly shocked about..." She trailed of. She truly had no idea how to tell Mrs Weasley of who were currently sitting in her and Ron's apartment.

Harry took matters in his own hands and stood up, making his way over to the door. He had no idea how Mrs Weasley would take this. Holding his breath he revealed himself through the doorway.

The Weasley matriarch's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath of air. "Harry?" She whispered, almost unheard if not for the overwhelming silence that hung in the apartment.

He nodded slightly before being gathered into a bone crushing hug. "Oh this is wonderful! Everyone will be so happy to see you!" Mrs Weasley said loudly. Harry silently disagreed, he doubted everyone would be as accepting of his disappearance as Neville and Luna were. "Oh, and Ginny! She'll be so happy to see you!"

Harry froze at that, did she really expect him to continue where him and Ginny left off, wherever that was?

Ron moved to the doorway to hug his mother. "Um mum, Harry's married now, and a lot older." He said bluntly. Harry inwardly cringed, he wondered how this was going to play out.

"But, what happened? We were all set to live our lives, to continue, where did you go, why did you leave us." Mrs Weasley said, voice raised slightly with a tear forming in her eye.

"It wasn't his fault, he didn't choose to go." Ron said, arguing for the now speechless Harry. All of his previous worries from years back when he had first disappeared rose to the surface. 'It was his fault wasn't it?' He thought dismally. 'He was the one who made the wish.' Harry quickly cut off that train of thought with a sharp no. It wasn't his fault, he didn't _know_ that anything would have happened, and he wasn't actually going to leave if he had had the choice. He allowed his resolve to quench the age old worry in his gut.

"What do you mean he didn't choose to leave?" Mrs Weasley said, turning to Harry for him to explain to her. He told her all about the horcrux in his head suppressing his magic for years and how the sheer amount of emotional magic that had built up launched him across dimensions into another body.

Harry's old parental figure looked ready to collapse as he told her of his parents, Sirius, Remus and everyone else still being alive with him, and her face went as white as a sheet when she saw them in the flesh. "Oh Merlin, it's like looking into a memory." Harry didn't dare tell her about his relationship with Sirius, he wasn't sure how she would take that on top of all of this. She had known the Marauders at school, if only for a single year. Then during the Order of the Phoenix she had been close to them as they were friends with her younger brothers, Fabian and Gideon who were also in the Order. That was if the parallel was the same as this universe.

After the shock of the initial meeting Mrs Weasley calmed down. She was now cradling a cup of tea and sat on the sofa between a very uncomfortable Harry and James. "Are you happy there Harry?" Mrs Weasley asked, causing his very heart to melt with love for the now battle worn and tired woman.

He smiled softly at her. "Very." He said simply.

She broke into a small smile. "That's all I needed to hear." Harry breathed a sigh of relief at the statement. "As long as you make plenty of visits, you're having Christmas at the burrow this year there's no doubt about it."

"I'd like that a lot Mrs Weasley." He said grinning.

"The only thing I worry about is Ginny, Ron's right, she won't be happy to see you. I guess I must have been caught up in the excitement." She concluded. "Now she's in a relationship with Dean again, it will be difficult for her."

"Mrs Weasley-" Hermione started.

"Mum dear."

"Uh, mum, I do believe that Ginny will be able to handle it, she has had a long time to get over Harry and she began dating Dean _seven_ years ago. She's old enough and mature enough to handle this." Hermione argued, not entirely sure if what she was saying was the truth.

"I do hope so." She said with an air of finality. "Harry dear, it was lovely to see you." She said with a warm smile. "I'll see you in a couple of days."

"I'll see you then too." Harry replied. He got up to get the door for the older woman. "I'm really glad I could see you again." He said once they were out the door. Mrs Weasley pulled him into a hug.

"Goodbye dear." She said before apparating off. She had a large smile on her face as she did so.

Harry came back into the apartment with a grin on his face. "I'm glad that went well."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

**AD**

 

The days flew by with the Potters. Broom races and exploding snap enchanted to have larger explosions; Harry lost both of his eyebrows for a week. Eventually came September 1st, the first day of school. He sat awake in bed; he had woken up early in excitement and couldn't get back to sleep.

Harry didn't know how he was going to handle school. He hadn't tried to perform any magic yet but he wasn't sure his magic level would be the same as before. It was only a week ago when James had challenged him to a game of Quidditch penalties when one of James's more wild throws sent Harry diving for the far post.  James shouted but it was to late, he slipped over one end of the broom and was hanging on one handed to the very tip. His hands were sweaty from the sweat of the game and he lost his grip but instead of falling he floated down instead.

Accidental magic.

It seemed that his magical core was that of a ten year old as well, the only thing remaining the same was his mind. But even that had some differences: he had more childlike tendencies, a longing for the comfort of Dorea and the approval of Charlus. He sure hoped that he wouldn't have to mentally go through puberty again, the first time with Cho was bad enough, but unfortunately it looked likely.

He imagined that in school he would look a bit like Hermione did, with all the knowledge of the entire school syllabus, but not have the magical power to perform them.

He wasn't sure how he would handle friends either, he didn't want to replace Ron and Hermione, he wasn't even sure if they could be replaced. He didn't want to go through school again being friendless, James and the Marauders wouldn’t count.

He definitely wouldn't waste the extra seven years though, he would study, maybe not as hard as Hermione but he reckoned he didn't need to, he would be able to read up on all the tricky charms he had missed, all the lessons he had been absent to due to all the injuries over the years. He could definitely score well on his OWLs if he wanted to, and he would be able to complete his NEWTs this time around, hopefully.

There was a knock on his door. "Harry, it's time to get up, it's your first day of school!" He heard Dorea say through the wood. A big smile came onto Harry's face, he was finally going back.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter there were a few realities that came to light. That James turns out to not be a saint, that not everyone is going to be happy with Harry’s return, and finally the conflicting views over Ginny’s reaction to Harry. Not saying anything but there will be some drama…!!! ;)  
> I promise to try and get the next chapter out soon  
> -*pfft* like that’ll happen-  
> I know I know, I haven’t been very good to you guys
> 
> Anyway, please review!!! It means loads if you guys are supporting me in this and tell me if my writing is shit cause I don’t want to be writing bad stuff for everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning was full of activity and speed. James hadn't packed his trunk although he had promised Dorea that he had the night before, then, while finally packing he tried to smuggle some joke stuff he had bought at Gamble and Japes into his bag for the train. This wasted at least the first hour of activity so that, when they finally arrived, they were almost late.

"I’ve got to go now, have a great time at school you two. Harry, keep your cousin in line for us. James, try not to get a detention first thing this year." Charlus said quickly with a wink before running back into the fireplace at the station, disappearing back to the ministry. All around them was a blur of lost pets, friend reunions and shouting parents.

After a rather spectacular fall by Harry during the arrival, Charlus had quickly wished Harry and James a great year before heading back to his job, there was still a bit of trouble with the new Death Eaters, although there were only a few the aurors couldn't seem to catch them which made things complicated and difficult.

"Come on Harry! You'll miss the train if we don't get on now, and if you miss it you'll lose your magic and become a squib." James said attempting to trick his cousin, although Dorea quickly caught him out.

"Nothing of the sort will happen, Harry. But you should get on that train, it would be a shame if you missed your first ride." She said as the warning whistle blew.

The two of them quickly hustled onto the train, James helping him with his bags much to his protests. Once they were on they were quickly spotted by Remus who happened to be in the same carriage as they were. "Hello James, Harry. How was the rest of your summer?" He asked politely.

"It was very good thank you." Harry replied. "You look very pale, are you alright?" He asked.

"Um, yes, just a, you know, a bit of a cold a few days ago." Remus stuttered out when a huge realisation hit Harry: of course he wasn't feeling well, it was the full moon two days ago!

“Yeah, Remus is always getting ill, at least once a month!” James said with a grin, not realising how close to the truth he was.

"Well I hope you feel better soon." He managed to reply as Remus paled deathly white. "James, I'm going to go off somewhere, make some friends and all that. I'll see you on the other side!" He smiled and dragged his trunk off with him as the other two looked for Sirius and Peter.

He had to move through quite a few carriages to find a compartment with space for him. Would he ever arrive at the platform with enough time to get a seat of his own choice? He speculated silently as he opened the door. "Hey, could I sit in here?" He asked the only occupant of the room, a black haired boy who was gazing out the window.

"Um yes, sure." He said turning around. Harry did a double take, here was a younger version of Sirius, only paler, and with shorter locks.

"Regulus?" He whispered.

"H-How do you know my name?" He demanded in shock, the slight stutter betraying the tough front he was attempting to put up.

"Oh, um-" he desperately tried to come up with an excuse, he couldn't let anyone know. "Ugh, my Aunt Dorea taught me all about the Pureblood families, sorry to come off weird."

"Dorea? Are you related to the Potters then?" He said with an expression on his face that looked almost tired. "Mother said that the Potters were all blood-traitors, but you seem ok enough." He said with a small smile.

"If she's anything like Sirius says I wouldn't believe it either." He said without thinking. "Not like that's true of course!" He hurriedly added on.

Regulus however didn't seem very offended. "No, you got it right on. Sirius is right." He said quietly with a small smile. "So since you know my name, what's yours?" He asked politely.

"Harry Potter, Dorea and Charlus's nephew." He said while loading his bags up into the bag racks along with Felix.

"It's nice to meet you, I didn't know they had a nephew" Regulus held out his hand nervously, with a grin on his face Harry shook it. He could save Regulus too, along with everyone else; stop him from joining the Death Eater ranks.

"Nice to meet you too. And I don't think they did either, it was a surprise for everyone." He said truthfully. "Chocolate frog?" Harry asked with a quirked eyebrow as he pulled out the few Dorea had packed for the journey.

"Umm yeah sure." He replied with a happy but restrained smile, almost like he was trying not to have fun. Harry inwardly rebelled at that, he would get through that wall Regulus had. He would make sure that they were friends.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

**OD**

 

Harry paused for a deep breath. He had a look somewhere between mournful and wistful, an expression she hadn't expected to see on this new, healed Harry. "So what happened to Regulus then?" Hermione said, oblivious to the warning look from Sirius and James.

Harry's expression visibly darkened to one of a combination of regret, sadness and loss. "I- I don't, _can't_ really talk about that right now. I… when I get there." He managed to make out.

Hermione easily deciphered the actual meaning of his stuttered mess. "It's fine if you don't want to continue for a while." She offered.

"Yeah, I can speak for a bit if you want?" Sirius said placing an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders, conveying strength through his presence.

Harry nodded, tears pricking his eyes. He leaned against Sirius's side and closed his eyes.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

**AD**

 

The Marauders made their way onto the platform, Sirius watched as James searched the crowds for his cousin. He was surprised at how quickly James's usual carefree and jokey demeanour vanished and was replaced by one of responsibility and love whenever Harry came onto the scene. It seemed as though _his_ James would always take a back seat whenever the young Potter ever needed anything from his brother.

After spotting him, James quickly made his way through the crowd to where Harry stood. "Good look on the sorting!" James said. "You'd better not get into anything but Gryffindor, especially Slytherin!" He joked but Sirius could see the unease beneath the surface, he was clearly worried about it.

"Yeah right, I'm definitely not going anywhere else." Harry said defiantly.

"Good!" James exclaimed before the first years were herded off by the half giant Hagrid, the Marauders had discovered his secret last year.

While walking up to the carriages Sirius caught Remus's eye. Knowing exactly what Sirius meant the pale boy took Peter a bit ahead and distracted him with some conversation or another.

With the other two gone Sirius moved over to James. "You do know he won't end up anywhere else, I just can’t see him in the other three." He reassured, showing a softer side of Sirius that few ever saw.

"I know, me neither." Said James truthfully. "But what if the hat makes a mistake, or it gets jinxed to change its mind, or- or if Harry doesn't actually want to be in Gryffindor with us, what if he wants to be a Slytherin Sirius?" He said overthinking the situation.

"Don't be stupid James, and anyway, what if he did end up in Slytherin? So what? You wouldn't love him any less, and don't deny that you do, I'm more cleverer than most people think." Sirius said.

"More cleverer? Yeah, I have no clue how someone could miss it." He said sarcastically with a small smirk.

"But seriously, would you? And I don't believe your parents could ever do so either." He reassured. "But I don't know what you're worrying about, he's a Gryffindor through and through."

"Yeah I suppose." James said. "I was thinking stupid again." He said smiling.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Now hurry up I actually want to have dinner tonight!"

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

"I'll take it from now I suppose." James said while Sirius comforted his husband. Obviously taking some of the attention away from the pair.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Despite Sirius's limited words of wisdom, James still had a seed of worry in the pit of his stomach. The carriages seemed to take hours to get to their destination and half way through the journey it began lashing it down with sheets of rain. By the time they had reached the gates it was barely possible to see more than a couple of metres ahead, Harry must be getting soaked out on the lake.

The dripping wet students pulled into the great hall and filled the tables, James purposely directed his group to the space adjacent to where the new first years would sit, so that Harry would be next to them.

After a few minutes of superficial, idle chatter the doors opened, effectively silencing all the inhabitants of the hall with a creak. A line of students filled in behind Professor McGonagall, who was leading them up in front of the teachers table where someone had placed the stool and the sorting hat. James caught sight of Harry who was surprisingly stood next to Sirius's brother.

"Is that Regulus, next to Harry there?" Remus asked, having only seen the Black brother a few times at the beginning and end of the last school year when Sirius had been picked up and dropped off by his family.

"Yeah, it seems even rule abiding, boring Regulus can't resist the Harry charm." Said Sirius with a smirk. "I just hope he doesn't get into Slytherin, he's smart enough for Ravenclaw surely?" He asked himself, the smirk faltering partially.

Just as expected the sorting hat opened its mouth and sang its tune:

 

"In times just after Merlin

 

The greatest of our kind

 

Four wizards came with offers

 

To train an eager mind

 

They took up Scottish residence

 

Of castle and of land

 

They named their new home 'Hogwarts'

 

And that is where you stand

 

They took the young and taught them

 

They guided them to bloom

 

Each wizard had, however,

 

A different type to groom

 

They split the children four ways

 

According to their skill

 

They looked at personality

 

At power and at will

 

The youngest man, one Gryffindor

 

Sought hearts of solid steel

 

He favoured those with bravery

 

And bold, heroic zeal

 

Ravenclaw, however,

 

Sought logic in her group

 

She chose bright minds intelligent

 

They formed a brainy troop

 

The oldest man, Sir Slytherin

 

Decided he would take

 

Those people with ambition

 

Whose greatness wouldn't break

 

The youngest girl, Miss Hufflepuff

 

Preferred those true and loyal

 

Her charges felt that things came best

 

With hardest work and toil

 

The four worked well together

 

But sadly time had passed

 

They knew that in their absence

 

Something had to last

 

So Gryffindor took from his head

 

A hat to fill with wit

 

You see that's me, I read your mind

 

So under me come sit

 

I'll figure out the best place

 

For you to flourish well

 

I'll seek out skills and character

 

So your house I can tell!"

 

The entire room burst into applause including a few of the bewildered first years at the front, Harry one of them. Once the noise had quietened down Professor McGonagall explained what was happening to the new students and began the sorting.

"Appleby, Amy" she called and a tough looking girl moved in front of the entire room to sit down.

Once McGonagall placed the hat on her head it only took a few seconds to shout out "Gryffindor!"

James clapped along with everyone else. After that there were one or two Hufflepuffs and then Sirius's brother. He watched his friend closely with baited breath, Sirius was watching the sorting hat intensely, somehow hoping to convey the single thought, Gryffindor.

The hall sat silent for a minute before a few people began whispering, Sirius glared at them. After what seemed an age, the hat finally called out, "Slytherin!" Sirius closed his eyes with disappointment. A disappointment James could sympathise with as Harry's turn with the sorting hat was drawing nearer and nearer.

"Potter, Harry" the professor called.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

Harry closed his eyes as the hat fell over them. The same voice as the one twenty years in the future at this moment spoke up. "My goodness, why I've never had the pleasure to sort someone from another dimension before!" The hat said in his head. Harry was just surprised, dimension, not just the future? "That's right, I'm very sure that is what happened, I can see from your memories the events that brought you here and you aren't a time traveller that's for sure, I've sorted a few of those people before and you are quite different, that I can see." The old hat said.

Well that was definitely unexpected, was that dream from months ago real then, did he look into the first dimension? There must have been some connection remaining once he had travelled.

The hat interrupted his thoughts. "Anyway, it is time to sort you, as that is why we are here is it not?" It paused for a moment. "You are very brave but you know that already. However you are also incredibly loyal, and quite smart though you don't believe it entirely yourself. You also have determination, a very Slytherin quality. But I see, just like the first time you were sorted you wish to enter the lion's den, this time to be with your cousin. Very well, you shall have your wish."

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

James was worried again, Harry was taking long to be sorted, five minutes now. He took in a breath as he saw the hat open its mount hand he closed his eyes, not wanting the hat's judgement, but needing it all the same.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called out and the table stood up to clap for him. James let out the breath, stress overcome by excitement. Along with the others he stood up and cheered, grinning as Harry caught his eye.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

When Harry's head finally hit his pillow, he was exhausted. Once the feast was over and they had all gone to the Gryffindor common room the Marauders had congratulated him loudly, semi-embarrassing him in front of all the new students. However after Sirius, Remus and Peter had all gone up to their dorm James had pulled Harry aside.

"Well done for getting into Gryffindor Harry. I was worried because you took so long?" He said, making it a question.

"Well, the hat couldn't decide between Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Harry lied, he felt dreadful about not telling him the truth but he didn't want his cousin to know he had a chance of being put into Slytherin, he didn't want to know how he would react.

"You're such a nerd!" James remarked with a grin.

Harry playfully pushed him away. "Am not!"

"Don't try and deny it! I've already seen you reading your course books!" He retaliated with a slightly larger shove. He had been reading them to see how much the syllabus had changed. They both grinned at each other. "Anyway, big day tomorrow, first day, I bet you can't wait to learn!"

"Shut up James, just because you can't tell one end of your wand from the other doesn't mean everyone else can't." He retorted before sighing. "I am tired though, night?" He asked.

"Night Harry!" He said still grinning. "Don't hit that enormous brain on the way up there!" He said before leaving to walk up the stairs.

Harry smiled at the memory. It was weird how well the two of them got along, while James was loud and domineering, Harry was more quiet.

Shaking off his thoughts he settled down to sleep a wave of sleepiness fogging his mind.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

The dream was similar to last time, the real-ness of it. He was at the Burrow again and in his old body, he could hear the rain outside and the smell of something cooking downstairs, probably courtesy of Mrs Weasley. He realised he was in Ginny's room, he hadn't been in there much when he had stayed at the Burrow in the past and so didn't recognise it right away.

He heard a sniffle from the bed, he turned to see who it was and recoiled in shock. Both Hermione and Ginny were sat side by side, silently crying in the company of each other. They were talking quietly between themselves, Harry moved closer so that he could make out what they were saying.

"It's been weeks, do you think we'll still find him? Eventually?" Ginny asked quietly.

"No, not anymore." Hermione replied so softly Harry wasn't sure if he heard correctly. "I think whatever took him has hidden its tracks well." She said and they both fell into tears again, however there were no tears left to shed.

Harry stood there, unable to comfort them yet unable to leave. It was torture knowing he was the one who had caused this pain yet he couldn't do anything to alleviate their suffering. "Please, you've got to listen I can't come back but I want to, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" He shouted. He could have sworn he saw Hermione shudder slightly, as if she could detect his presence. "Yes, Hermione I'm here I'm here!" But there was no reaction.

Suddenly he woke up to someone shaking him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks for reading the chapter, I'm not sure it was very good but anyway, if you like it comment!!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> (Also, I didn't come up with the hat song, it was written by a wonderful person who has written the song for general use of fanfictioners everywhere!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have fun and on with the show! no chapter spoilers from me

Harry made his way downstairs the following morning accompanied with the boy who had woken him up last night, Tommy Mckinnon. Once he reached the entrance hall he saw Regulus hanging around the large doors which lead into the great hall. He was peering what seemed to be at the Slytherin table. “Hey Regulus, what’s up?” He asked, voicing his concern.

Regulus jumped in surprised having been so lost in thought. “Um, nothing.” He said hurriedly. Harry decided to drop it.

“Do you want to sit with me today then?” Harry asked still hoping that he could properly befriend the youngest Black.

“Yes please.” He said offering a smile. It was pretty obvious that his problem was with the rest of Slytherin house, or they had a problem with him. Harry vowed to find out.

As they stepped in, Harry kept close watch on the green clad house and saw some dirty looks thrown Regulus's way. Regulus himself however put on a blank, expressionless face and walked by without a glance towards them. Must be a Pureblood/Slytherin thing, Harry thought, to be able to easily mask ones emotions like Snape once did. Speaking of the black haired man Harry hadn’t seen him yet, and scanning the Slytherin table once more he couldn’t find him among them.

The three of them made their way over to where James, Remus, Sirius and (unfortunately) Peter were sat at the table.  Harry plopped himself down next to the cousin while Regulus and Tommy placed themselves more nervously across from Harry, one due to looks he was getting from the Slytherins and Gryffindors alike, and the other because he had heard of the Marauders infamy from his older sister who was in their year. James grinned and ruffled Harry’s hair greeting him with a “Morning!” before continuing to stuff a piece of toast in his mouth.

“Hey James.” He said with a smile.

He noticed Regulus watching Sirius with worried anticipation; he hadn't even begun eating yet. Sirius noticed that he was being watched and turned to his brother, with a natural carefree grin that seemed to say 'so what? You’re Slytherin? Who cares' which Harry could see made his friend relax. Regulus then happily began piling food on his plate ignoring all the looks he was getting from across the room.

Eventually breakfast ended and Harry got up, ignoring a painful twinge in his legs. He had been getting these slight pains for a while now, they were getting worse slowly but he hadn't complained. Maybe he had landed funnily during a Quidditch match with James or something. Anyway, he hadn't wanted to bother Charlus and Dorea about it, they already had so much to think about with Charlus going off to fight death eaters every day.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

OD

 

 

Once Harry had said this Hermione gave him a hard glare. "You know you should have told them Harry!" She said exasperated by her friend’s stupidity.

Harry had the decency to look ashamed by her words. "I know that now Hermione." He said quietly as James shot him a look that clearly said differently.

"Not true, Harry here never tells anyone if he's hurting or worse, well, apart from me and Padfoot and that's only after thirty five years of convincing that he should come first sometimes. He always worries about everyone else before himself and then he still tries to soldier on. I suppose he was always destined to be the healer of the family!" James said, with a look between pride and caring of his little brother.

"Healer! Harry you became a healer! Oh well done!" Hermione said smiling widely; glad her friend finally paid attention to his academics, possibly since said attention wasn't focused on staying alive each and every year.

"James was right, you _are_ a nerd!" Ron said smirking.

"Oi, watch it Ron!" Harry said good-naturedly before continuing with the story.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

AD

 

The three of them, Harry, Regulus and Tommy, had a look at their timetables which had been given out during the meal. "We have transfiguration first with you, Regulus, then charms with the Ravenclaws and then Herbology and history of magic with the Hufflepuffs." Tommy said as they travelled up the staircases.

Harry realised that he had to try hard to pretend that he didn't know the castle as well as he actually did. Especially after Regulus had noticed how he knew where the transfiguration classroom was _and_ how he knew to jump the trick step on the way up. When Regulus had asked him he had made up the excuse that James had told him about the step in the holidays while telling him about Hogwarts and that he had asked someone the route beforehand. He must make a few on-purpose mistakes to attempt to throw Regulus of his scent but he doubted that he would succeed seeing how observant Regulus was becoming.

When they took their places in the classroom, Harry made sure to sit next to Regulus. Looking around he could see the clear division between the houses, on his left were the Gryffindors and then the Slytherins were on the right.

Professor McGonagall strode into the room looking much, much younger than Harry remembered. However the rest of her was still the same: the confident, commanding air, the thin, stern line her lips often formed and the emerald green robes she always adorned. The raven-haired boy smiled to himself as he remembered her during the final battle with Voldemort when she ordered Seamus to blow up the bridge. He almost let out a small laugh but managed to contain it. It was a lot easier now, thinking about the war, he thought as McGonagall began calling the register. With the possibility of saving all the lives he had thought lost it was made more bearable.

The lesson started, and McGonagall began her lecture on the transformation equation, it was the same topic Harry had started with when he was in his original universe so he was easily keeping up despite the small differences of the time period.

"Do any of you know the equation?" The Professor asked after explaining its uses.

Harry decided to put his hand up after no one else did and answered correctly, earning himself and his house ten points. He reckoned he would be able to stay ahead of how well he did last time he went through this, easy peasy. He thought with a grin.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

OD

 

 

"Yeah, 'easy peasy' when you get a seven year head start!" Remus joked with a grin. They all burst out laughing while Harry blushed.

"So? It wasn't my fault I got it. Anyway, you studied _whilst_ playing pranks on people, along with every other spare moment. I'd say you easily put enough time in to catch up!" Harry retaliated.

Hermione glanced at the clock on the wall at the word time. "Wow, it's midnight already; we really should be getting to bed. Do you guys have sleeping arrangements?" She asked looking around the group. Harry reached into the pouch around his neck and pulled out a tent, the same design as the one they had camped in whilst looking for the horcruxes.

"We're covered." He said, holding it up.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

The next day was the 24th, the day before Christmas. Mrs Weasley came round again, half in order to confirm that they were still free for Christmas Day, and the other half to come and see Harry again and make sure she hadn’t dreamt the last time she was here.

Once she had left Harry pulled Ron over to one side and excused himself from the apartment. Ron made him put on all the necessary charms and glamours so that he didn't go and tell Hermione on him.

Harry apparated straight to the front of the Gringotts building looking at the marble building with anticipation. He heard someone apparate behind him, whirling around he quickly drew his wand and pointed it at the newcomer. James.

"If you wanted some moral support." He said smiling, he knew exactly what Harry was doing.

"Thanks." Harry replied gratefully. Together the two of them made their way into the large halls of the bank. The looks from the goblins still managed to make the hairs on his neck shiver with nerves due to the last time he had been here; it had been fine to visit back in the parallel universe but that was because it had technically never happened. They walked up to one of the goblin clerks at the desk at the front of the room. "May I request a meeting with the manager?" He asked politely, hoping not to give any reason for them to be denied the audience.

"Very well I shall make an appointment for you, the earliest time is at two forty-five." The goblin informed them. Harry glanced at his watch, the old metal hands read eleven thirty, three and a quarter hours until he had to be there. “May I take a name?” The goblin asked peering closely at him.

“Um,” Harry stuttered, “Harry Potter.” He said nervously.

“Is it now?” the goblin asked with an odd expression of curiosity and glee. “We shall see you at the allotted time. Mr Potter.”

"Thank you, we'll see you then." Harry said bowing his head in appreciation hoping the goblin would be kind with his identity.

After they left the pure white bank, Harry and James walked around Diagon alley for a bit. There were a few children playing around while their mothers sat drinking hot chocolate and gossiping inside a small café, a few important looking witches and wizards were debating some theory or another. As childish laughter filled the street Harry simply closed his eyes and took in everything of his old world.

"Hey," James said with a mischievous smirk. "I was talking Quidditch with Ron, and he said that the Thunderbolt Mark II is out here, do you want to check it out?" He asked.

The Thunderbolt was the latest series of racing brooms that all the teams were now using, the newest model, the Mark II, wasn't even out yet in the parallel world despite having been released to the professional clubs there.

"Hell yeah!" Harry said with a grin and the two of them ran off to where the shop was, acting just like the kids they used to be (and still were in certain cases).

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

After a few hours of messing about with James, Harry realised the time two forty five was rapidly approaching and began to make his way back to the bank with James in tow. The goblins respected punctuality as a quality. "I miss having a laugh with you, I mean, our jobs always overlap with each other's free time, I never get to spend any time with you anymore." James said with a wistful smile on his face.

"Yeah..." Harry trailed off obviously thinking of the upcoming meeting.

"Hey, whatever happens in there, you're still my brother, ok? No matter what." James reassured him with a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks Jamsie." Harry said using the nickname only he was allowed to use since their parents died. He turned once again to walk through the large doors of Gringotts.

When they reached the front of the room the goblin who had greeted them beforehand merely, with a ghastly grin, gestured to one side where an open door was waiting for them. They wandered through, led by a small goblin who remained completely silent. They went through a few more doors and corridors and finally into an expensive looking room. There was a soft red carpet spread across the floor with comfortable looking arm chairs facing a dark oaky looking desk. Everything was quiet, like a silencing charm was cast over it. Unlike the occasional clatter of coins or gems in the larger entrance chamber. The goblin motioned for them to sit down and told them to wait.

Suddenly to the left a smaller goblin stepped out of a doorway that when closed looked like a part of the wooden panelling. He looked particularly ugly with a large wart on his chin.

"Well, it surely is a surprise to be seeing Harry Potter here of all places, we thought you had disappeared a while back." He said with a grin that froze Harry stiff in his seat, would everyone in the bank know? "Don't worry, your charms and glamours are still there, the wood in the walls is magical and engraved with several runes; allows us goblins to see past all disguises." But that didn't confirm he was going to keep his mouth shut though, Harry thought cynically.

"I am Dirmcork, the current manager of Gringotts bank, what can I do for you Mr Potter." The goblin asked; the malicious smirk on his features soon replaced by a gleam of interest in his eye.

"Well I, when I disappeared all those years ago, something rather strange happened, I would like to undergo a blood test, in order to see if a certain something had happened." Harry explained.

"Very well, I assume you will pay for the expenditures?" He asked.

"Of course, I do still have my vaults correct?" Harry returned.

"Correct." Dirmcork confirmed. "Gringotts never destroys a vault, even if it remains untouched for a thousand years."

"You may draw the funds from there." Harry said, giving permission. Assumingly not having to give up his key as his identity would soon be confirmed or otherwise.

There was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal yet another goblin carrying a goblet, a needle and a piece of parchment. The goblins were nothing if not efficient. The objects were laid down in front of Harry before the courier retreated out the room. The goblet contained a dark purple liquid that shimmered at the surface, distorting the reflection into what almost looked like runes. The goblet itself was an intricately shaped golden piece, it had runes across the rim. Harry got the feeling this was a much more complicated method than the one done at St Mungo's back when he was eleven.

"You are to prick your finger and allow exactly six drops of blood to fall into the potion." Dirmcork instructed. Harry did as told, once the final drop hit the potion the liquid bubbled vigorously, boiling away until there was only a small splash of a silvery liquid at the bottom which seemed to not settle in one place. The goblin manager took the parchment and dipped one corner into the liquid which instantly soaked up into it.

The silvery liquid, similarly to the previous test, appeared across the page in spidery writing. Once the potion was done the parchment read: "Harry Eddard Potter, son of Eddard James Potter, Born, 31st July 1962, died 23 May 1972."

However, the letters kept shifting slightly, as if not settled on what they had spelt. After a second the word Eddard turned to James and the dates turned from "1962" and "1972" into "1981" and "1998".

"Peculiar, how very peculiar" Dirmcork muttered under his breath. "You see Mr Potter, this artefact can distinguish the identity of any thing that has ever lived, and even sometimes beings that have yet to come alive. It is nigh impossible to fool." The goblin informed them. "And unless some incredibly strong magic worthy of Merlin and all the great wizards of the past were at play, you have two identities."

It confirmed it, his longest mystery. Harry had come into another body, not just creating the situation with his magic. But, thankfully, he hadn't shoved the other boy's conscience out of the body to make room for his; that would have been too much for him. "Well, that's a relief; I didn't destroy the real Harry." He said with a small smile.

"Hey, don't say that, you are the real Harry so don't go all depressive and self depreciational." He said looking his brother right in the eye.

"Thanks, again." Harry said smiling before hugging his brother tightly. "And I'm pretty sure 'depreciational' isn't a word!"

"And?" James said happily, glad that his brother had been brought out of a potential mood. Harry had no wish to share the reason behind the double identity of his nature with the manager of Gringotts and quickly bid the goblin goodbye, but not without making the goblin solemnly swear to not expose his existence or the nature of this meeting to any other sentient creature and to make sure the rest of the bank did the same.

Once they were home Lily and Hermione fussed over them both, scolding them for having left without telling anyone. Harry then insisted he had told Ron but for some reason the redhead had "mysteriously disappeared" for the time being. Probably fearing his wife's wrath.

Eventually, Hermione calmed down with the promise of further story time and they were all soon sat around the living room again.

 

XxXxXxXxXxX

 

AD

 

 

After spending the evening in the library (unspoken neutral territory between houses due to Madam Pince’s strict rules) to finish all their homework early Harry, Tommy and a reluctant Regulus left to go to their common rooms. Harry had seen enough evidence throughout the day to see that Regulus was uncomfortable around the other Slytherins, and it seemed as though the feeling was mutual. Whenever his house had passed them they sneered at the younger Black brother, occasionally bumping into him. Regulus looked to pay them no attention but Harry could see it was bothering his friend.

By Friday it was getting worse, one third year Slytherin had charmed Regulus's books to hit him over the head until he had ran away. But nothing had compared to Saturday morning.

They met Regulus in the entrance hall like usual before walking over to the Gryffindor table. The distrustful looks from the Gryffindors had died down slightly over the past few weeks. Just as the youngest Black brother began piling his plate with food James caught sight of a large black owl flying towards them. “Oh Sirius, what have you done now?” James exclaimed.

Sirius looked up, confused. “Nothing, I-” He began, but froze when he realised that the great eagle owl was heading towards Regulus. “Oh no.”

The owl didn’t spare the boys a moment, dropping a red envelope that made Harry’s heart sink onto Regulus’s plate of sausages. The envelope began to smoke as the boy’s face shifted between fear, shock, hurt and finally nothingness as the envelope exploded into a voice that Harry knew well from his fifth year.

“HOW DARE YOU, AFTER ALL YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE POTTERS AND AFTER KNOWING WHAT THAT **BLOOD-TRAITOR** BROTHER OF YOURS DID. HOW DARE YOU HAVE THE **GALL** , TO NOT ONLY BEFRIEND A POTTER YOURSELF BUT TO BETRAY YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR OWN FAMILY NAME BY ASSOCIATING YOURSELF WITH **MUDBLOOD SCUM** AND BLOOD-TRAITORS ALIKE.

“YOU ARE A DISGRACE I TELL YOU, ONE THAT WILL RECTIFY THIS MISTAKE **IMMEDIATELY** OR FACE **SEVERE** CONSEQUENCES.

“AND **_YOU_** ” The letter turned to Sirius (who was not paying any attention to it but was staring at his brother intensely) and increased its volume dramatically. “YOU HAVE **RUINED** YOUR BROTHER BY **TAINTING** HIM WITH YOUR **_FOUL_** BEHAVIOR, I WANT YOU **OUT** OF HIS LIFE IMMEDIATELY AND YOU ARE NOT TO RUIN HIM ANY FURTHER. IF I **DARE** HEAR ABOUT ANY MORE OF THIS IT WILL **NOT** BE KREACHER **DEALING** WITH **_YOU_**.”

The paper instantly caught fire and was gone in seconds.

The entire hall was silent with all eyes on Regulus. The boy stood up slowly, dusting off his robes, and walked calmly over to where a space on the Slytherin table had opened up from nowhere and sat down.

Another word was dared not spoken throughout the rest of the meal.

**Author's Note:**

> Cookies for Kudos???


End file.
